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U. 


CONFEDERATE  VIEW 


OF  THE 


TREATMENT  OF  PRISONERS. 


COMPILED  FROM 


OFFICIAL  RECORDS  AND  OTHER  DOCUMENTS. 


Rev.  J.  WILLIAM  JONES,  D.  D. 

SECKETART  SOUTHERN  HISTOKICAL  SOCIKTT. 


RICHMOND  : 

SOUTHERN  HISTORICAL,  SOCIETY. 
1876 

f 


.^1 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  iii  the  year  1876, 

By  J.  WILLIAM  JONES, 

Secretary  Southern  Historical  Society, 

In  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress  at  Washington. 


,<.> 


0 


PREFATORY  NOTE. 


The  demand  for  the  contents  of  the  two  Papers  we  have  issued 
on  the  "Treatment  of  Prisoners  During  the  War  Between  the 
States,"  mduces  us  to  put  them  in  book  form. 

It  would  have  improved  the  appearance  of  the  book  to  have 
reprinted  the  matter ;  but  we  have  decided  to  lessen  its  cost  by 
simply  binding  into  book  form  the  March  and  April  (1876)  Num- 
bers of  our  "Southern  Historical  Society  Papers.'' 

The  discussion  is  by  no  means  exhaustive,  and  yet  we  send  it 
forth  in  the  full  confidence  that  the  argument  has  not  been,  and 
cannot  be  answered,  and  that  this  little  volume  is  a  complete 
refutation  of  the  slanders  against  our  Government  and  people  which 
have  poisoned  the  minds  of  the  nations  against  us. 


J.  W.  J. 


Office  Southern  Historical  Society, 

Richmond,  Virginia,  July  1,  1376. 


\ 


CONTENTS. 


PA«E 

Mr.  Blaine's  arraif^ament 112 

Thi;  question  stated 115 

Letter  from  President  Davis 116 

Testimony  of  General  R.  E.  Lee 120 

Vice-President  Stephens'  Statement 123 

Judge  Quid's  Vindication  of  llie  Confed- 
erate (Jovernnient 125 

Report  of  Joint  Committee  of  the  Con- 
federate Congress 132 

Extract  from  Central  Presbyterian 151 

Confederate  Laws 152 

Treatment  of  Privateers 153 

The  Cartel 156 

^-"Confederate  Soldiers  and  their  Prisoners,  159 

y  Andersonville  161 

Statement  of  one  of  the  Guard 162 

Paper  of  Dr.  Jos.  -Jones  on  causes  of  mor- 
tality   ITO 

Editorial  comments )...  179 

Extracts  from  statement  of  Dr.  R.  R.  Ste- 
venson    182 

Testimony  of  Federal  Prisoners 184 

Statemcnl  of  Oi-iieral  J.  D.  Imboden 187 

Kc|)(  rt  of  ('ol<Hu;l  1).  T.  Chandler 197 

Leit,  r  fioni  Ilonoraiile  R.  G.  11.  Kean....  199 

Letter  f ri  mi  Secretary  Sedcion 203 

Lcllcrs  in  defence  of  General  Winder 205 

Judy:e  Oiild's  reply  tocharges  against  liin),  210 
orlicial  Statistics  "on  relative  mortality  of 

Prisoners 216 

Failure  tn  make  a  case 21S 

Editorial  Paragraphs 221 

/ 


PAGE. 

Mr.  Blaine's  description  of  Northern  Pri- 
sons    225 

Narrative  of  Henry  clay  Dean 226 

Prison  Life  of  Rev.  Geo.  W.  Nelson 243 

Letter  of  a  Confederate  Officer.. 256 

Narrative  of  Hon.  A.  M.  Keiley 259 

Experience  of  Dr.  \.  W.  K.  Haiidy 270 

Statement  of  Rev. 'Geo.  Harris 273 

Deposition  of  T.  D.  Henry 276 

Statement  of  Major  Ro.  Stiles 279 

Rock  Island  Prison,  bv  Chas.  W    Wright,  2S1 

Prison  Rules  at  Fort  i)el aware 292 

Testimony  c)f  a  Federal  Soldier 292 

Efforts  of  a  Northern  gentleman  to  relieve 

our  prisoners 294 

Letter  from  a  U.  S.  Medical  Otflcer 296 

The  Exchange  Question 298 

Letter  fri)in  (ieneral  Lee 299 

Commissioni'i- oiild's  Iteport 303 

Federal  Orders  I{evoking  Paroles 308 

Comments  of  (Jenensl  .T.  .\.  Early 309 

How  the  Federals  Refused  to  Exchange,  312 

Testimony  of  (ieneral  B.  F.  Butler 313 

Statement  of  Junius  Henri  Browne 314 

Testimony  of  General  I'.  S.  Grant 316 

The  Negro  Question 317 

Efforts  of  the  Confederacy  to  effect  an 

Exchange 318 

Letter  of  Chief  Justice  Shea 319 

Summing  up  of  the  whole  question 3251^ 

Editorial  Paragraphs —  326 


Vol.  I. 


Ricliiiiond,  Ta.,  Marcli,  1876. 


No.  3. 


THE  TREATMENT  OF  PRISONERS  DURING}  THE  WAR  BETWEEN 

THE  STATES. 

[Compiled  by  Secretary  of  Southern  Historical  Society.] 

There  is,  perhaps,  no  subject  connected  with  the  late  war  which 
more  imperatively  demands  discussion  at  our  hands  than  the  Prison 
Question.  That  the  Confederate  Government  should  have  been 
charged  in  the  heat  of  the  passions  of  the  war  with  a  systematic 
cruelty  to  prisoners  was  to  be  expected.  The  pulpits,  the  press, 
and  the  Government  reports,  which  were  so  busy  denouncing 
"  Rebel  barbarities  "  that  they  had  no  censure  for  the  McNeils" 
the  Turchins,  the  Butlers,  the  Milroys,  the  Hunters,  the  Sher- 
mans, and  the  Sheridans,  who,  under  the  flag  of  ''Liberty," 
perpetrated  crimes  which  disgrace  the  age,  were  not  to  be  expected 
to  be  over  scrupulous  in  originating  and  retailing  slanders  against 
the  Government  and  people  of  the  South.  But  it  was  hoped  that 
after  the  passions  of  the  war  had  cooled,  and  the  real  facts  had  be- 
come accessible,  that  these  sweeping  charges  would  be  at  least 
modified,  and  these  bitter  denunciations  cease. 

We  have  been  doomed  to  a  sad  disappointment.  The  leader  of 
the  Radical  party  (Mr.  Blaine)  has  recently  in  his  place  in  the 
United  States  Congress  revived  all  of  the  charges  which  twelve 
years  ago  "  fired  the  Northern  heart,"  and  has  marred  the  music  of 
the  "Centennial  chimes,"  with  such  language  as  this: 

.'' ^f-  ^f'f  was  the  author,  knowingly,  deliberately,  guiltily  and 
wiltully  of  the  gigantic  murder  and  crime  at  Andersonville  And 
1  here,  before  God,  measuring  my  words,  knowing  their  full  extent 
and  import,  declare  that  neither  the  deeds  of  the^Duke  of  Alva  in 
the  Low  countries,  nor  the  massacre  of  Saint  Bartholomew,  nor  the 
thumb-screws  and  engines  of  torture  of  the  Spanish  Inquisition 
vine""  ^°"'P''''®  '"^  'Atrocity  with  the  hideous  crimes  of  Anderson- 
He  then  quotes  and  endorses  the  following  extract  from  the  report 


114  Southern  Historical  Society  Papers. 

of  the  ex  parte  committee  of  Congress  who  examined  this  question 
at  a  time  when  passion  was  at  its  flood  tide: 

"  The  subsequent  history  of  Andersonville  has  startled  and 
shocked  the  world  with-  a  tale  of  horror,  of  woe  and  death  before 
unheard  and  unknown  to  civilization.  No  pen  can  describe,  no 
painter  sketch,  no  imagination  comprehend  its  fearful  and  unutter- 
able iniquity.  It  would  seem  as  if  the  concentrated  madness  of 
earth  and  hell  had  found  its  final  lodgment  in  the  breasts  of  those 
who  inaugurated  the  rebellion  and  controlled  the  policy  of  the 
Confederate  Government,  and  that  the  prison  at  Andersonville  had 
been  selected  for  the  most  terrible  human  sacrifice  which  the  world 
had  ever  scon.  Into  its  narrow  walls  were  crowded  thirty-five 
thousand  enlisted  men,  many  of  them  the  bravest  and  best,  the 
most  devoted  and  heroic  of  those  grand  armies  which  carried  the 
flag  of  their  country  to  final  victory.  For  long  and  weary  months 
here  they  suffered,  maddened,  were  murdered,  and  died.  Here 
they  lingered,  unsheltered  from  the  burning  rays  of  a  tropical  sun 
by  clay?  ai^tl  drenching  and  deadly  dews  by  night,  in  every  stage  of 
mental  and  physical  disease,  hungered,  emaciated,  starving,  mad- 
dened; festering  with  unhealed  wounds;  gnawed  by  the  ravages  of 
scurvy  and  gangrene;  Avith  swollen  limb  and  distorted  visage;  cov- 
ered with  vermin  which  they  had  no  power  to  extirpate ;  exposed 
to  the  flooding  rains  which  drove  them  drowning  from  the  misera- 
ble holes  in  which,  like  swine,  they  burrowed;  parched  with  thirst 
and  mad  with  hunger;  racked  with  pain  or  prostrated  with  the 
weakness  of  dissolution;  with  naked  limbs  and  matted  hair ;  filthy 
with  smoke  and  mud ;  soiled  with  the  very  excrement  from  which 
their  weakness  would  not  permit  them  to  escape ;  eaten  by  the 
gnawing  worms  which  their  own  wounds  had  engendered ;  with  no 
bed  but  th-e  earth;  no  covering  save  the  cloud  or  the  sky;  these 
men,  these  heroes,  born  in  the  image  of  God,  thus  crouching  and 
writhing  in  their  terrible  torture  and  calculating  barbarity,  stand 
forth  in  history  as  a  monument  of  the  surpassing  horrors  of  Ander- 
sonville as  it  shall  be  seen  and  read  in  all  future  time,  realizing  in 
the  studied  torments  of  their  prison-house  the  ideal  of  Dante's  In- 
ferno and  Milton's  Hell." 

So  industriously  have  these  statements  been  circulated — so  gene- 
rally have  they  entered  into  the  literature  of  the  North — so  widely 
have  they  been  believed,  that  the  distinguished  gentleman  from 
Georgia  (Hon.  B.  H.  Hill),  who  ventured  upon  a  calm  reply,  in 
which  he  ably  refuted  the  assertions  of  Mr.  Blaine,  has  been  de- 
nounced by  the  Radical  press  as  a  "  co-conspirator  with  Jeff.  Davis  to 
murder  Union  prisoners,"  and  has  been  told  by  even  some  of  our 
own  papers  that  his  speech  was  "very  unfortunate." 

As  we  have  in  the  archives  of  our  Society  the  means  of  trium- 
phantly vindicating  the  Confederate  Government  from  the  charge 


Treatment  of  Prisoners  During  the  War.  115 

of  cruelty  to  prisoners,  as  we  have  been  appealed  to  by  leading 
men  North  and  South  and  in  Europe  to  give  the  facts  in  reference 
to  this  matter,  and  as  the  present  seems  an  opportune  time,  we 
have  decided  to  enter  upon  the  task. 

We  have  only  to  premise  that  our  work  is  mainly  one  of  compila- 
tion,  and  that  our  chief  difficulty  is  which  documents  to  select  from 
the  vast  number  which  we  have  in  our  collection. 

THE    QUESTION   STATED. 

Let  it  be  distinctly  understood  that  we  do  not  for  a  moment 
affirm  that  there  was  not  a  vast  amount  of  suffering  and  fearful 
mortality  among  the  Federal  prisoners  at  the  South.  But  we  are 
prepared  to  prove  before  any  fair  tribunal,  from  documents  now  in 
our  archives,  the  following  points: 

1.  The  Confederate  authorities  always  ordered  the  kind  treatm.ent 
of  prisoners  of  war,  and  if  there  were  individual  cases  of  cruel 
treatment  it  was  in  violation  of  positive  orders. 

2.  The  orders  were  to  give  prisoners  the  same  rations  that  our 
own  soldiers  received,  and  if  rations  were  scarce  and  of  inferior 
quality  it  was  through  no  fault  of  the  Confederacy. 

3.  The  prison-hospitals  were  put  on  the  same  footing  precisely  as 
the  hospitals  for  our  own  men,  and  if  there  was  unusual  suffering 
caused  by  want  of  medicine  and  hospital  stores  it  arose  from  the 
fact  that  the  Federal  authorities  declared  these  "contraband  of  war," 
and  refused  to  accept  the  Confederate  offer  to  allow  Federal  surgeons 
to  come  to  the  prisons  with  supplies  of  medicines  and  stores. 

4.  The  prisons  were  established  with  reference  to  healthfulness 
of  locality,  and  the  great  mortality  among  the  prisoners  arose  from 
epidemics  and  chronic  diseases  which  our  surgeons  had  not  the 
means  of  preventing  or  arresting. 

A  strong  proof  of  this  is  the  fact  that  nearly  as  large  a  proportion 
of  the  Confederate  guard  at  Andersonville  died  as  of  the  prisoners  them- 
selves. 

5.  The  above  reasons  cannot  be  assigned  for  the  cruel  treatment 
which  Confederates  received  in  Northern  prisons.  Though  in  a  land 
flowing  with  plenty,  our  poor  fellows  in  prison  were  famished  with 
hunger,  and  would  have  considered  half  the  rations  served  Federal 
soldiers  bountiful  indeed.  Their  prison-hospitals  were  very  far 
from  being  on  the  same  footing  Avith  the  hospitals  for  their  own 
soldiers,  and  our  men  died  by  thousands  from  causes  which  the 
Federal  authorities  coidd  have  prevented. 


116  Southern  Historical  Society  Papers. 

6.  But  the  real  cause  of  the  suffering  on  both  sides  was  the  stop- 
page of  the  exchange  of  prisoners,  and  for  this,  i\\Q  Federal  authorities 
alone  were  responsible.  The  Confederates  kej^t  the  cartel  in  good 
faith.     It  was  broken  on  the  other  side. 

The  Confederates  were  anxious  to  exchange  man  for  man.  It 
was  the  settled  policy  on  the  other  side  not  to  exchange  prisoners. 
The  Confederates  offered  to  exchange  sick  and  wounded.  This  was 
refused.  In  August,  1864,  we  offered  to  send  home  all  the  Federal 
sick  and  wounded  without  equivalent.  The  offer  was  not  accepted 
mitil  the  follo^^'ing  December,  and  it  was  during  that  period  that 
the  greatest  mortality  occurred.  The  Federal  authorities  determined 
as  their  war  policy  not  to  exchange  prisoners,  they  invented  every 
possible  pretext  to  avoid  it,  and  they  at  the  same  time  sought  to 
quiet  the  friends  of  their  prisoners  and  to  "fire  the  Northern  heart" 
by  most  shamelessly  charging  that  the  Confederate  Government 
refused  to  exchange,  and  by  industriously  circulating  the  most 
malignant  stories  of  "  Rebel  barbarities"  to  helpless  veterans  of  the 
Union. 

7.  But  the  charge  of  cruelty  made  against  the  Confederate  leaders 
is  triumphantly  refuted  by  such  facts  as  these:  The  ofiicial  reports 
of  Secretary  Stanton  and  Surgeon  General  Barnes  shoAv  that  a 
much  larger  per  cent,  of  Confederates  perished  in  Nortliern  prisons 
than  of  Federals  in  Southern  prisons.  And  though  the  most  per- 
sistent efforts  were  made  to  get  up  a  case  against  President  Davis, 
General  Lee,  and  others  (even  to  the  extent  of  offering  poor  \\'irz  a 
reprieve  if  he  would  imj^licate  them),  they  were  not  able  to  secure 
testimony  upon  which  even  Holt  and  his  military  court  dared  to 
go  into  the  trial. 

It  may  be  well,  before  discussing  the  question  in  its  full  deti.ils, 
to  introduce  the 

TESTIMONY   OF   LEADING   CONFEDERATES 

who  are  implicated  in  this  charge  of  cruel  treatment  to  prisoners 

And  first  we  give  a  recent  letter  of  ex-President  Davis  in  reply 

to  Mr.  Blaine's  charges: 

Xew  Orleans,  January  27,  187G, 
Hon.  James  Lyons  : 

My  Dear  Friend — Your  very  kind  letter  of  the  14th  instant 
was  forwarded  from  Memphis,  and  has  been  received  at  this  place. 
I  have  been  so  long  the  object  of  malignant  slander  and  the  sub- 
ject of   unscru]uilous  falsehood  by  partisans  of  the  class  of  Mr. 
Blaine,  that,  though  I  cannot  say  it  has   become  to  me  matter 


Treatment  of  Prisoners  During  the  War.  117 

of  indifference,  it  has  ceased  to  excite  my  surprise  even  in  this 
instance,  when  it  reaches  the  extremity  of  accusing  me  of  cruelty 
to  prisoners.  What  matters  it  to  one  whose  object  is  personal  and 
party  advantage  that  the  records,  both  Federal  and  Confederate, 
disprove  the  charge;  that  the  country  is  full  of  witnesses  who  bear 
oral  testimony  against  it,  and  that  the  effort  to  revive  the  bitter 
animosities  of  the  war  obstructs  the  progress  toward  the  reconcilia- 
tion of  the  sections  ?  It  is  enough  for  him  if  his  self-seeking  pur- 
pose be  promoted. 

It  would,  however,  seem  probable  that  such  expectations  must 
be  disa|)pointed,  for  only  those  who  are  wilfully  blind  can  fail  to 
see  in  the  circumstances  of  the  case  the  fallacy  of  Mr.  Blaine's 
statements.  The  published  fact  of  an  attempt  to  suborn  Wirz, 
when  under  sentence  of  death,  by  promising  him  a  pardon  if  he 
would  criminate  me  in  regard  to  the  Anderson ville  prisoners,  is  con- 
clusive as  to  the  wish  of  the  Government  to  make  such  charge 
against  me,  and.  the  failure  to  do  so  shows  that  nothing  could  be 
found  to  sustain  it.  ^  May  we  not  say  the  evidence  of  my  innocence 
was  such  that  Holt  and  Conover,  with  their  trained  band  of  suborned 
witnesses,  dared  not  make  against  me  this  charge — the  same  which 
Wirz,  for  his  life,  would  not  make,  but  which  Blaine,  for  the  Presi- 
dential nomination,  has  made? 

Now  let  us  review  the  leading  facts  of  this  case.  The  report  of 
the  Confederate  commissioner  for  exchange  of  prisoners  shows  how 
jDersistent  and  liberal  were  our  efforts  to  secure  the  relief  of  cap- 
tives. Failing  in  those  attempts,  I  instructed  General  R.  E.  Lee  to 
go  under  flag  of  truce  and  seek  an  interview  with  General  Grant,  to 
represent  to  him  the  suffering  and  death  of  Federal  prisoners  held 
by  us,  to  explain  the  causes  which  were  beyond  our  control,  and  to 
urge  in  the  name  of  humanity  the  observance  of  the  cartel  for  the 
exchange  of  prisoners.  To  this,  as  to  all  previous  appeals,  a  deaf 
ear  was  turned.  The  interview  was  not  granted.  I  will  not  attempt, 
from  memory,  to  write  the  details  of  the  correspondence.  Lee  no 
longer  lives  to  defend  the  cause  and  country  he  loved  so  well  and 
served  so  efficiently ;  but  General  Grant  cannot  fail  to  remember  so 
extraordinary  a  proposition,  and  his  objections  to  executing  the 
cartel  are  well  known  to  the  public.  But  whoever  else  may  choose 
to  forget  my  efforts  in  this  regard,  the  prisoners  at  Andersonville 
and  the  delegates  I  permitted  them  to  send  to  President  Lincoln  to 
plead  for  the  resumption  of  exchange  of  prisoners  cannot  fail  to 
remember  how  willing  I  was  to  restore  them  to  their  homes  and  to  the 
comforts  of  which  they  were  in  need,  provided  the  imprisoned 
soldiers  of  the  Confederacy  should  be  in  like  manner  released  and 
returned  to  us. 

This  foul  accusation,  though  directed  specially  against  me,  was 
no  doul^t  intended  as,  and  naturally  must  be,  the  arraignment  of 
the  South,  by  whose  authority  and  in  whose  behalf  my  deeds  were 
done.  It  may  be  presumed  that  the  feelings  and  the  habits  of  the 
Southern  soldiers  were  understood  bv  me,  and  in  that  connection 


118  SoutlLern  Historical  Society  Pdjxrs. 

any  fair  mind  would  perceive  in  my  con_2;ratulatory  orders  to  the 
army  after  a  victory,  in  which  the  troops  were  most  commended  for 
their  tenderness  and  generosity  to  the  womided  and  other  captives, 
as  well  the  instincts  of  the  person  who  issued  the  order  as  the 
knightly  temper  of  the  soldiers  to  whom  it  was  addressed.  It  is 
admitted  that  the  prisoners  in  our  hands  were  not  as  well  provided 
for  as  we  would,  but  it  is  claimed  that  we  did  as  well  for  them  as  we 
could.     Can  the  other  side  say  as  much? 

To  the  bold  allegations  of  ill  treatment  of  prisoners  by  our  sidc) 
and  humane  treatment  and  adequate  supplies  by  our  opjjunents,  it 
is  only  necessary  to  offer  two  facts — first,  it  ap2:»ears  I'roin  t!ie  reports 
of  the  United  States  War  Department  that  though  we  iiad  sixty 
thousand  more  Federal  prisoners  than  they  had  of  Confederates, 
six  thousand  more  of  Confederates  died  in  Northern  prisons  than 
died  of  Federals  in  Southern  prisons;  second,  the  want  and  sufier- 
ing  of  men  in  Northern  prisons  caused  me  to  ask  for  permission  to 
send  out  cotton  and  buy  supplies  for  them.  The  request  was 
granted,  but  only  on  condition  that  the  cotton  should  be  sent  to 
New  York  and  the  supplies  be  bought  there.  General  Beale,  now 
of  St.  Louis,  was  authorized  to  purchase  and  distribute  the  needful 
supplies. 

Our  sympathy  rose  with  the  occasion  and  responded  to  its  de- 
mands— not  waiting  for  ten  years,  then  to  vaunt  itself  when  it  could 
serve  no  good  purpose  to  the  sufferers. 

Under  the  mellowing  influence  of  time  and  occasional  demon- 
strations at  the  North  of  a  desire  for  the  restoration  of  peace  and 
good  will,  the  Southern  people  have  forgotten  much — have  forgiven 
much  of  the  wl'ongs  they  bore.  If  it  be  less  so  among  their  in- 
vaders, it  is  but  another  example  of  the  rule  that  the  wrong-doer 
is  less  able  to  forgive  than  he  who  has  suffered  causeless  wrong. 
It  is  not,  however,  generally  among  those  who  braved  the  hazards 
of  battle  that  unrelenting  vindictiveness  is  to  be  found.  The  brave 
are  generous  and  gentle.  It  is  tlie  skulkers  of  the  fight — the 
Blaines — who  display  their  flags  on  an  untented  field.  They  made 
no  sacrifice  to  prevent  the  separation  of  the  States.  Why  should 
thev  be  expected  to  j^romote  the  confidence  and  good  will  essential 
to  their  union  ? 

When  closely  confined  at  Fortress  Monroe  I  was  solicited  to  add 
my  name  to  those  of  many  esteemed  gentlemen  who  had  signed  a 
petition  for  my  pardon,  and  an  assurance  was  given  tliat  on  m^'' 
doing  so  the  President  would  order  my  liberation.  Confident  of 
the  justice  of  our  cause  and  the  rectitude  of  my  own  conduct,  I 
declined  to  sign  the  petition,  and  remained  subject  to  the  inex- 
cusable privations  and  tortures  which  Dr.  Craven  has  but  faintly 
described.  When,  after  two  years  of  close  confinement,  I  was  ad- 
mitted to  bail,  as  often  as  required  I  appeared  for  trial  under  the 
indictment  found  against  me,  but  in  which  Mr.  Blaine's  fictions  do 
not  appear.  The  indictment  was  finally  quashed  on  no  application 
of  mine,  nor  have  I  ever  evaded  or  avoided  a  trial  upon  any  charge 


Treatment  of  Prisoners  During  the  War.  119 

the  General  Government  might  choose  to  bring  against  me,  and 
have  no  view  of  the  future  which  makes  it  desirable  to  me  to  be 
included  in  an  amnesty  bill. 

Viewed  in  the  abstract  or  as  a  general  question,  I  would  be  glad 
to  see  the  repeal  of  all  laws  inflicting  the  penalty  of  political  clisa- 
bilities  on  classes  of  the  people  that  it  might,  as  prescribed  by  the 
constitution,  be  left  to  the  courts  to  hear  and  decide  causes,  and  to 
affix  penalties  according  to  pre-existing  legislation.  The  discrimi- 
nation made  against  our  people  is  unjust  and  impolitic  if  the  fact 
be  equality  and  the  purpose  be  fraternity  among  the  citizens  of  the 
United  States.  Conviction  and  sentence  without  a  hearing,  without 
jurisdiction,  and  affixing  penalties  by  ex  post  facto  legislation,  are 
part  of  the  proceeding  which  had  its  appropriate  end  in  the  as- 
sumption by  Congress  of  the  Executive  function  of  granting  par- 
dons. To  remove  political  disabilities  which  there  was  not  legal 
power  to  impose  was  not  an  act  of  so  much  grace  as  to  form  a 
plausible  pretext  for  the  reckless  diatribe  of  Mr.  Blaine. 

The  papers  preserved  by  Dr.  Stevenson  happily  furnish  full  proof 
of  the  causes  of  disease  and  death  at  Andersonville.  They  are  now, 
I  believe,  in  Richmond,  and  it  is  to  be  hoped  their  publication 
will  not  be  much  longer  delayed.  I  have  no  taste  for  recrimination, 
though  the  sad  recitals  made  by  our  soldiers  returned  from  North- 
ern prisons  can  never  be  forgotten.  And  you  wall  remember  the 
excitement  those  produced,  and  the  censorious  jDublications  which 
were  uttered  against  me  becau'^e  I  would  not  visit  on  the  helpless 
prisoners  in  our  hands  such  barbarities  as,  according  to  reports,  had 
been  inflicted  upon  our  men. 

Imprisonment  is  a  hard  lot  at  the  best,  and  prisoners  are  prone  to 
exaggerate  their  sufterings,  and  such  was  probably  the  case  on  both 
sides.  But  we  did  not  seek  by  reports  of  committees,  with  photo- 
graphic illustrations,  to  inflame  the  passions  of  our  people.  How 
was  it  with  our  enemy?  Let  one  example  suffice.  You  may  re- 
member a  published  report  of  a  committee  of  the  United  States 
Congress  wdiich  Avas  sent  to  Annapolis  to  visit  some  exchanged 
prisoners,  and  which  had  appended  to  it  the  photographs  of  some 
emaciated  subjects,  which  were  cffared  as  samples  of  prisoners  re- 
turned from  the  South. 

When  a  copy  of  that  report  was  received,  I  sent  it  to  Colonel 
Ould,  commissioner  for  the  exchange  of  prisoners,  and  learned,  as 
I  anticipated,  that  the  photographs,  as  far  as  they  could  be  iden- 
tified, had  been  taken  from  men  who  were  in  our  hospital  when 
they  were  liberated  for  exchange,  and  whom  the  hospital  surgeon 
regarded  as  convalescent,  but  too  weak  to  be  removed  with  safety 
to  themselves.  The  anxiety  of  the  ])risoners  to  be  sent  to  their 
homes  had  prevailed  over  the  objections  of  the  surgeon.  But  this 
is  not  all,  for  I  have  recently  learned  from  a  priest  who  was  then 
at  Annapolis  that  the  most  wretched  looking  of  these  photographs 
was  taken  from  a  man  who  had  never  been  a  prisoner,  but  who 
had  been  left  on  the  "sick  list"  at  Annapolis  when  the  command 


120  Southei'n  Historical  Society  Papers. 

to  which  he  was  attached  had  passed  that  place  on  its  southward 
inarch. 

Whatever  may  be  said  in  extenuation  of  such  imposture  because 
of  the  exigencies  of  war,  there  can  be  no  such  excuse  now  for  the 
attempts  of  Mr.  Blaine,  by  gross  misrepresentation  and  slanderous 
accusation,  to  revive  the  worst  passions  of  the  war;  and  it  is  to  be 
hoped  that,  much  as  the  event  is  to  be  regretted,  it  will  have  the 
good  effect  of  evoking  truthful  statements  in  regard  to  this  little 
understood  subject  from  men  who  would  have  preferred  to  leave 
their  sorrowful  story  untold  if  the  subject  could  have  been  allowed 
peacefully  to  sink  into  oblivion. 

Mutual  respect  is  needful  for  the  common  interest,  is  essential  to 
a  friendly  union,  and  when  slander  is  promulgated  from  high  places 
the  public  welfare  demands  that  truth  should  strip  falsehood  of  its 
power  for  evil. 

I  am,  respectfully  and  truly,  your  friend, 

Jefferson  Davis. 

We  next  introduce 

THE   TESTIMONY   OF  OENERAL   R.    E.    LEE, 

who  was  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  Confederate  armies,  who  has 
been  widely  charged  with  being  pai-ticeps  criminis  in  this  matter, 
but  whom  the  world  will  ever  believe  to  have  been  as  incapable  of 
connivance  at  a  cruel  act  as  he  was  of  the  slightest  departure  from 
the  strictest^accuracy  of  statement. 

The  following  is  an  extract  from  his  sworn  testimony  before  the 
Congressional  Eeconstruction  Committee : 

"  Question.  By  Mr.  Howard:  'I  wish  to  inqure  whether  a'ou  had 
any  knowledge  of  the  cruelties  practiced  toward  the  Union  prisoners 
at  Libby  Prison  and  on  Belle  Isle?'  Ansiver.  ' I  never  knew  that 
any  cruelty  was  practiced,  and  I  have  no  reason  to  believe  that  it 
was  practiced.  I  can  believe,  and  have  reason  to  believe,  that  pri- 
vations may  have  been  experienced  by  the  prisoners,  because  I 
know  that  provision  and  shelter  could  not  be  provided  for  them.' 

"  Q.  '  Were  you  not  aware  that  the  prisoners  were  dying  from  cold 
and  starvation?    A.  'I  Avas  not.' 

"Q.  '  Did  these  scenes  come  to  your  knowledge  at  all  ?  A.  '  Never. 
No  report  was  ever  made  to  me  about  them.  There  was  no  call  for 
any  to  be  made  to  me.  I  did  hear — it  was  mere  hearsay — that 
statements  had  been  made  to  the  War  Department,  and  that  everj'-- 
thing  had  been  done  to  relieve  them  that  could  be  done,  even  finally 
so  far  as  to  offer  to  send  tliem  to  some  other  points — Charleston 
was  one  point  named — if  they  would  be  received  by  the  United 
States  authorities  and  taken  to  their  homes;  but  whether  this  is 
true  or  not  I  do  not  know.' 

"Q.  'And  of  course  you  know  nothing  of  the  scenes  of  cruelty 
about  which  complaints  have  been  made  at  those  places'  (Anderson- 
ville  and  Salisbury)?     A.  '  Nothing  in  the  world,  as  I  said  before.     I 


/I 


Treatment  of  Prisoners  During  the  War.  121 

suppose  they  suffered  for  Wcant  of  ability  on  the  part  of  the  Con- 
federate States  to  supply  their  wants.  At  the  very  beginning  of  the 
war  I  knew  that  there  was  suffering  of  prisoners  on  both  sides,  but 
as  far  as  I  could  I  did  everything  in  my  power  to  relieve  them,  and 
to  establish  the  cartel  which  was  agreed  upon.' 

"Q.  'It  has  been  frequently  asserted  that  the  Confederate  soldiers 
feel  more  kindly  toward  the  Government  of  the  United  States  than 
any  other  people  of  the  South.  What  are  your  observations  on 
that  point?'  A.  'From  the  Confedrate  soldiers  I  have  heard  no  ex- 
pression of  any  other  oijinion.  They  looked  upon  the  war  as  a 
necessary  evil,  and  went  through  it.  I  have  seen  them  reheve  the 
wants  of  Federal  soldiers  on  the  field.  The  orders  always  were 
that  the  whole  field  shquld  be  treated  alike.  Parties  were  sent  out 
to  take  the  Federal  Avounded  as  well  as  the  Confederate,  and  the 
surgeons  Avere  told  to  treat  the  one  as  they  did  the  other.  These 
orders  given  by  me  were  respected  on  every  field.' 

"Q-  '  Do  you  think  that  the  good  feeling  on  their  part  toward  the 
rest  of  the  people  has  continued  since  the  close  of  the  war?'  A.  'I 
know  nothing  to  the  <3ontrary.  I  made  several  efforts  to  exchange 
the  prisoners  after  the  cartel  was  suspended.  I  do  not  know  to 
this  day  which  side  took  the  initiative.  I  know  there  were  constant 
complaints  on  both  sides.  I  merely  know  it  from  public  rumors. 
~  offered  to  General  Grant,  around  Eichmond,  that  we  should  our- 
selves  exchange  all  the  prisoners  in  our  handsS  There  was  a  com- 
iSiunication  from  the  Christian  Commission,  I  tnink,  which  reached 
me  at  Petersburg,  and  made  application  to  me  for  a  passport  to  visit 
all  the  prisoners  South.  My  letter  to  them  I  suppose  they  have. 
I  told  them  I  had  not  that  authority,  that  it  could  only  be  obtained 
from  the  War  Department  at  Richmond,  but  tluit  neither  they  nor 
I  could  relieve  the  sufferings  of  the  prisoners:  that  the  only  thing 
to  be  done  for  them  was  to  exchange  them^;  and,  to  show  that  I 
would  do  whatever  was  in  my  power,  I  offered  them  to  send  to  City 
Point  all  the  prisoners  in  Virginia  and  North  Carolina  over  which 
my  command  extended,  provided  they  returned  an  equal  number 
of  mine,  man  for  man.  I  reported  this  to  the  War  Department, 
and  received  for  answer  that  they  would  place  at  my  comuuind  all 
the  prisoners  at  the  South  if  the  jDroposition  was  accepted.  I  heard 
nothing  more  on  the  subject.'"  ) 

The  following  private  letter  to  a  friend  and  relative  was  never  in- 
tended for  the  public  eye^  but  may  be  accepted  as  his  full  convic- 
tion on  this  subject: 

"Lexington,  Va.,  April  17,  1S67. 
"  Dr.  Charles  Carter, 

"•No.  163-2 .Walnut  Sf reef ,  PJiiladeljMa,  Pa.: 

"  My  Dear  Dr.  Carter — I  have  received  your  letter  of  the  9th  insi, 
inclosing  one  to  you  from  Mr.  J.  Francis  Fisher,  in  relation  to  cer- 
tain information  which  he  had  received  from  Bishop  Wilmer.  My 
respect  for  Mr.  Fisher's  wishes  Avould  induce  me  to  reply  fully  to 


122  Southern  Historical  Society  Papers. 

all  his  questions,  but  I  have  not  time  to  do  so  satisfactorily;  and, 
for  reasons  whicli  I  am  sure  you  both  will  appreciate,  I  have  a  great 
repugnance  to  being  brought  before  the  public  in  any  mamier. 
Sufficient  information  has  been  officially  published,  1  think,  to 
show  that  whatever  sufferings  the  Federal  prisoners  at  the  South 
underwent,  were  incident  to  their  position  as  prisoners,  and  pro- 
duced by  the  destitute  condition  of  the  country,  arising  from  the 
operations  of  war, .  ^  The  law^s  of  the  Confederate  Congress  and 
the  orders  of  the  War  Department  directed  that  the  rations 
furnished  prisoners  of  war  should  be  the  same  in  quantity  and 
quality  as  those  furnished  enlisted  men  in  the  army  of  the  Con- 
federac}^,  and  that  the  hospitals  for  jirisoners  should  be  placed  on 
the  same  footing  as  other  Confederate  States  hospitals  in  all  re- 
spects. It  was  the  desire  of  the  Confederate  authorities  to  effect  a 
continuous  and  speedy  exchange  of  prisoners  of  war;  for  it  Avas 
their  true  policy  to  do  so,  as  their  retention  was  not  only  a  calamity 
to  them,  but  a  heavy  expenditure  of  their  scanty  means  of  sub- 
sistence, and  a  privation  of  the  services  of  a  veteran  arm}^  Mr. 
Fisher  or  Bishop  Wihner  has  confounded  my  offers  for  the  ex- 
change of  prisoners  with  those  made  by  Mr.  Ould,  the  Commissioner 
of  the  Confederate  States.  It  was  he  that  offered,  when  all  hopes 
of  effecting  the  exchange  had  ceased,  to  deliver  all  the  Federal  sick 
and  wounded,  to  the  amount  of  fifteen  thousand,  without  an  equiva- 
lent, provided  transportation  was  furnished.  Previously  to  this,  I 
think,  I  offered  to  General  Grant  to  send  into  his  lines  all  the  pri- 
soners within  my  deijartmcnt,  which  then  embraced  Virginia  and 
North  Carolina,  provided  he  would  return  me  man  for  man;  and 
when  I  informed  the  Confederate  authorities  of  my  proposition,  I 
was  told  that,  if  it  was  accepted,  they  would  place  all  the  prisoners 
at  the  South  at  my  disposal.  I  offered  subsequently,  I  think  to  the 
committee  of  the  United  States  Sanitary  Commission,  who  visited 
Petersburg  for  the  purpose  of  ameliorating  the  condition  of  their 
prisoners,  to  do  the  same.  But  my  proposition  was  not  accepted. 
Dr.  Joseph  Jones  has  recently  published  a  pamphlet  termed  '  Re- 
searches upon  Spurious  Vaccination,'  etc.,  issued  from  the  Uni- 
versity Medical  Press,  Nashville,  Tenn.,  in  which  he  treats  of  cer- 
tain diseases  of  the  Federal  prisoners  at  Andersonville  and  their 
causes,  which  I  think  would  be  interesting  to  j'ou  as  a  medical 
man,  and  would  furnish  INIr.  Fislier  with  some  of  the  information 
he  desires.  And  now  I  wish  you  to  understand  that  what  I  have 
written  is  for  j^our  personal  information  and  not  for  puljlication, 
and  to  send  as  an  expression  of  thanks  to  Mr.  Fisher  for  his  kind 
efforts  to  relieve  the  sufferings  of  the  Southern  people. 

"I  am  very  much  ol)liged  to  you  for  the  prayers  you  offered  for 
us  in  the  days  of  trouble.  Those  days  are  still  prolonged,  and  we 
earnestly  look  for  aid  to  our  merciful  God.  Should  I  have  any  use 
for  the  file  of  papers  you  kindly  offer  me  I  will  let  you  know. 

'All  .my  family  unite  with  me  in  kind  regards  to  }  our  wife  and 
children.     And  I  am,  very  truly,  your  cousin, 

(Signed)       ^  K.  E.  Lee." 


Treatment  of  Prisoners  During  the  War.  123 


VICE-PRESIDENT   ALEX.    11.    STEVENS, 

in  his  "War  Between  the  States,"  declares  that  the  eftbrts  which 
have  been  made  to  "fix  the  odium  of  cruelty  and  barbarity"  upon 
Mr.  Davis  and  the  Confederate  authorities  ".constitute  one  of  the 
boldest  and  baldest  attempted  outrages  upon  the  truth  of  history 
which  has  ever  been  essayed."  After  briefly,  but  most  conclusively? 
discussing  the  general  question,  INIr.  Stevens  continues  as  follows  in 
reference  to  the  Federal  prisoners  sent  South : 

Large  numbers  of  them  were  taken  to  Southwestern  Georgia  in 
1864,  because  it  was  a  section  most  remote  and  secure  f>'om  the  inva- 
ding Federal  armies,  and  because,  too,  it  was  a  country  of  all  others 
then  within  the  Confederate  limits,  not  thus  threatened  with  an  in- 
vasion, most  abundant  with  food,  and  all  resources  at  command  for 
the  health  and  comfort  of  prisoners.  They  were  i^ut  in  one  stockade 
for  the  want  of  men  to  guard  more  than  one.  The  section  of  country, 
moreover,  was  not  regarded  as  more  unhealthy,  or  more  subject  to 
malarious  influences,  than  any  in  the  central  part  of  the  State. 
The  official  order  for  the  erection  of  the  stockade  enjoined  that  it 
should  be  in  "a  healthy  locality,  plenty  of  pure  water,  a  running 
stream,  and,  if  possible,  shade  trees,  and  in  the  immediate  neighbor- 
hood of  grist  and  saw  mills."  The  very  selection  of  the  locality, 
80  far  from  being,  as  you  suppose,  made  with  cruel  designs  against 
the  prisoners,  was  governed  by  the  most  humane  considerations. 

Your  question  might,  with  much  more  point,  be  retorted  by  ask- 
ing, why  were  Southern  prisoners  taken  in  the  dead  of  winter  with 
their  thin  clothing  to  Camp  Douglas,  Rock  Island  and  Johnson's 
Island — icy  regions  of  the  North — where  it  is  a  notorious  fact  that 
many  of  them  actually  froze  to  death  ? 

As  far  as  mortuary  returns  afford  evidence  of  the  general  treat- 
ment of  prisoners  on  both  sides,  the  figures  show  nothing  to  the 
disadvantage  of  the  Confederates,  notwithstanding  their  limited 
supplies  of  all  kinds,  and  notwithstanding  all  that  has  been  said  of 
the  horrible  sacrifice  of  life  at  Andersonville. 

It  now  appears  that  a  larger  number  of  Confederates  died  in 
Northern  than  of  Federals  in  Southern  prisons  or  stockades.  The 
report  of  Mr.  Stanton,  as  Secretary  of  War,  on  the  19th  of  July, 
1866,  exhibits  the  fact  that,  of  the  Federal  prisoners  in  Confederate 
hands  during  the  war,  only  22,576  died;  while  of  the  Confederate 
prisoners  in  Federal  hands  26,436  died.  This  report  does  not  set 
forth  the  exact  number  of  prisoners  held  by  each  side  respectively. 
These  facts  were  given  more  in  detail  in  a  subsequent  report  by 
Surgeon  General  Barnes,  of  the  United  States  Army.  His  report  I 
have  not  seen,  but  according  to  a  statement  editorially,  in  the  Na- 
tional Intelligencer — very  high  authority — it  appears  from  the  Surgeon 
General's  report,  that  the  whole  number  of  Federal  prisoners  cap- 
tured by  the  Confederates  and  held  in  Southern  prisons,  from  first  to 


124  Southern  Historical  Society  Papers. 

last  during  the  war,  was,  in  round  numbers,  270,000;  while  the 
whole  number  of  Confederates  captured  and  held  in  prisons  by  the 
Federals  was,  in  like  round  numbers,  only  220,000.  From  these 
two  reports  it  appears  that,  with  50,000  more  prisoners  in  Southern 
stockades,  or  other  modes  of  confinement,  the  deaths  were  nearly 
4,000  less!  According  to  these  figures,  the  per  centum  of  Federal 
deaths  in  Southern  prisons  was  under  nine!  while  the  per  centum  of 
Confederate  deaths  in  Northern  prisons  was  over  twelve!  These 
mortality  statistics  are  of  no  small  weight  in  determining  on  which 
side  was  the  most  neglect,  cruelty  and  inhumanity !  v 
-  But  the  question  in  this  matter  is,  ripon  whom  does  this  tremendous 
responsibility  rest  of  all  this  sacrifice  of  human  life,  with  all  its  in- 
describable miseries  and  sufferings?  The  facts,  beyond  question  or 
doubt,  show  that  it  rests  entirely  upon  the  authorities  at  Washing- 
ton! It  is  now  well  understood  to  have  been  a  part  of  their  settled 
policy  in  conducting  th e  war  not  to  exchange  prisoners.  The  grounds 
upon  which  this  extraordinary  course  was  adopted  were  that  it 
was  humanity  to  the  men  in  the  field,  on  their  side,  to  let  their 
captured  comrades  perish  !in  prison,  rather  than  to  let  an  equal 
number  of  Confederate  soldiers  be  released  on  exchange  to  meet 
them  in  battle!  Upon  the  Federal  authorities,  and  upon  them 
only,  with  this  policy  as  their  excuse,  rests  the  whole  of  this  re- 
sponsibility. To  avert  the  indignation  which  the  oj^en  avowal  of 
this  policy  by  them  at  the  time  would  have  excited  throughput 
the  North,  and  throughout  the  civilized  world,  the  false  cry  of  cruelty 
towards  prisoners  was  raised  against  the  Confederates.  This  was 
but  a  pretext  to  cover  their  own  violation  of  the  usages  of  war  in 
this  respect  among  civilized  nations. 

Other  monstrous  violations  of  like  usages  were  not  attempted  to 
be  palliated  by  them,  or  even  covered  by  a  pi*etext.  These  were, 
as  you  must  admit,  open,  avowed  and  notorious!  I  refer  only  to 
the  general  sacking  of  i)rivate  houses — the  j)illaging  of  money, 
plate,  jewels  and  other  light  articles  of  value,  Avith  the  destruction 
of  books,  works  of  art,  paintings,  pictures,  j)rivate  manuscripts  and 
family  relics;  but  I  allude,  besides  these  things,  especially  to  the 
hostile  acts  directly  against  property  of  all  kinds,  as  well  as 
outrages  upon  non-combatants — to  the  laying  waste  of  whole  sec- 
tions of  countr}' ;  the  attempted  annihilation  of  all  the  necessaries 
of  life;  to  the  wanton  killing,  in  many  instances,  of  farm  stock 
and  domestic  animals;  the  burning  of  mills,  factories  and  barns, 
with  their  contents  of  grain  and  forage,  not  sparing  orchards  or 
growing  crops,  or  the  implements  of  husbandry  ;  the  mutilation  of 
covmty  and 'municipal  records  of  great  value;  the  extraordinary 
eff'orts  made  to  stir  up  servile  insurrections,  involving  the  wide 
spread  slaughter  of  women  and  children;  the  impious  profanation 
of  temples  of  worship,  and  even  the  brutish  desecration  of  the 
sanctuaries  of  the  dead! 

All  these  enormities  of  a  savage  character  agauLst  the  very  ex- 
istence of  civilized  society,  and  so  revolting  to  the  natural  scnti- 


Treatment  of  Prisoners  During  the  War.  125 

ments  of  mankind,  when  not  thoroughly  infuriated  b}^  the  worst 
of  passions,  and  in  open  violation  of  modern  usages  in  war — were 
perpetrated  by  the  Federal  armies  in  many  places  tlirougliout  the 
conflict,  as  legitimate  means  in  putting  down  the  rebellion,  so- 
called  ! —  War  Between  the  States,  vol.  2,  pp.  507-510. 

We  next  present  the 

TESTIMONY    OF    HON.    ROBERT    GULD,    CONFEDERATE    COMMISSIONER    OF 

EXCHANGE. 

The  following  paper  was  published  by  Judge  Ould  in  the  National 
Intelligencer  in  August,  1868.  It  is  a  calm,  able,  truthful  exposition 
of  the  question,  which  has  not  been  and  cannot  be  answered: 

KiCHMOND,  Va.,  August  17,  1868. 

To  THE  Editors  of  the  Xational  Intelligencer  : 

Gentlemen — I  liave  recently  seen  so  many  misrepresenta- 
tiors  of  the  action  of  the  late  Confederate  authorities  in  relation  to 
prisoners,  that  I  feel  it  due  to  the  truth  of  history,  and  peculiarly 
incumbent  on  me  as  their  agent  of  exchange,  to 'bring  to  the  atten- 
tion of  the  country  the  facts  set  forth  in  this  paper : 


The  cartel  of  exchange  bears  date  July  22d,  1862.  Its  chief  pur- 
pose was  to  secure  the  delivery  of  all  prisoners  of  Avar. 

To  that  end,  the  fourth  article  provided  that  all  prisoners  of  war 
should  be  discharged  on  parole  in  ten  days  after  their  capture. 
From  the  date  of  the  cartel  until  the  summer  of  1863  the  Confede- 
rate authorities  had  the  excess  of  prisoners.  During  the  interval 
deliveries  were  made  as  fast  as  the  Federal  Government  furnished 
transportation.  Indeed,  upon  more  than  one  occasion  I  urged  the 
Federal  authorities  to  send  increased  means  of  transportation.  It 
has  never  been  alleged  that  the  Confederate  authorities  tailed  or 
neglected  to  make  prompt  deliveries  of  prisoners  who  were  not  held 
under  charges,  when  they  had  the  excess.  On  the  other  hand,  during 
the  same  time  the  cartel  was  openly  and  notoriously  violated  by 
the  Federal  authorities.  Officers  and  men  were  kept  in  confine- 
ment, sometimes  in  irons  or  doomed  to  cells,  without  charge  or 
trial.  Many  officers  were  kept  in  confinement  even  after  the  no- 
tices published  by  the  Federal  authorities  had  declared  them  ex- 
changed. 

In  the  summer  of  1863  the  Federal  authorities  insisted  upon 
limiting  exchanges  to  such  as  were  held  in  confinement  on  either 
side.  This  I  resisted  as  being  in  \dolation  of  the  cartel.  Such  a 
construction  not  only  kept  in  confinement  the  excess  on  either  side, 
but  ignored  all  paroles  which  were  held  by  the  Confederate  Govern- 
ment. These  were  very  many,  being  the  paroles  of  officers  and 
men  who  had  been  released  on  capture.     The  Federal  Government 


126  Southern  Hisforical  Society  Papas. 

at  that  time  held  few  or  no  paroles.  They  had  all,  or  nearly  all, 
been  surrendered,  the  Confederate  authorities  giving  prisoners  as 
equivalent  for  them.  Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  as  long  as  the  Con- 
federate Government  had  the  excess  of  prisoners  matters  went  on 
smoothly  enough,  but  as  soon  as  the  posture  of  affairs  in  that  re- 
spect was  changed  the  cartel  could  no  longer  be  observed.  So,  as 
long  as  the  Federal  Government  held  the  paroles  of  Confedrate  offi- 
cers and  men,  they  were  respected,  and  made  the  basis  of  excliange; 
but  when  equivalents  were  obtained  for  them,  and  no  more  were 
in  hand,  the  paroles  which  were  held  by  the  Confederate  authori- 
ties could  not  be  recognized.  In  consequence  of  the  position  thus 
assumed  by  the  Federal  Government,  the  requirement  of  the  cartel 
that  all  prisoners  should  be  delivered  within  ten  days  was  practi- 
cally nullified.  The  deliveries  which  were  afterwards  made  were 
the  results  of  special  agreements. 

The  Confederate  authorities  adhered  to  their  position  until  the 
10th  of  August,  1864,  when,  moved  by  the  sufferings  of  the  men  in 
the  prisons  of  each  belligerent,  they  determined  to  abate  their  just 
demand.  Accordingly,  on  the  Inst  named  day,  I  addressed  the  fol- 
lowing communication  to  Brigadier-General  John  E.  Mulford  (then 
Major),  Assistant  Agent  of  Exchange: 

KiCHMOND,  August  10,  1864. 
Major  John  E.  ^NEulford, 

Assistant  Agent  of  Exchange : 

Sir — You  have  several  times  proposed  to  me  to  exchange 
the  prisoners  respectively  held  by  the  two  belligerents — officer  for 
officer  and  man  for  man.  The  same  offer  has  also  been  made  by  other 
officials  having  charge  of  matters  connected  with  the  exchange  of 
prisoners. 

This  proposal  has  heretofore  been  declined  by  the  Confederate 
authorities,  they  insisting  upon  the  terms  of  the  cartel,  which 
required  the  delivery  of  the  excess  on  either  side  on  parole. 
In  view,  however,  of  the  veiy  large  number  of  prisoners  now  held 
by  each  party,  and  the  suffering  consequent  upon  their  continued 
confinement,  I  now  consent  to  the  above  proposal,  and  agree  to 
deliver  to  you  the  prisoners  held  in  captivity  by  the  Confederate 
authorities,  provided  you  agree  to  deliver  an  equal  number  of  Confed- 
erate officers  and  men.  As  ecjual  numbers  are  delivered  from  time  to 
time,  they  will  be  declared  exchanged.  This  proposal  is  made  with 
the  understanding  thattlie  officers  and  men  on  both  sides  Avho  have 
been  longest  in  captivity  will  be  first  delivered,  where  it  is  prac- 
ticable. 

I  shall  be  happy  to  hear  from  you  as  speedily  as  possible  whether 
this  arrangement  can  be  carried  out. 

Respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

Robert  Ould, 
Agent  of  Exchange. 


Treaimcnt  of  Trisoners  During  the  War.  127 

The  delivery  of  this  letter  was  accompanied  with  a  statement  of 
the  mortality  which  was  hurrying  so  many  Federal  prisoners  at 
Andersonville  to  the  grave. 

On  the  22d  day  of  August,  1864,  not  having  heard  anything  in 
response,  I  addressed  a  communication  to  Major-General  E.  A. 
Hitchcock,  United  States  Commissioner  of  Exchange,  covering  a 
copy  of  the  foregoing  letter  to  General  Mulford,  and  requesting  an 
acceptance  of  my  propositions. 

No  ansiver  ivas  received  to  either  of  these  letters.  General  IMulford, 
on  the  31st  day  of  August,  1864,  informed  me  in  writing  that  he 
had  no  communication  on  the  subject  from  the  United  States 
authorities,  and  that  he  was  not  at  that  time  authorized  to  make 
any  answer. 

This  offer,  which  would  have  instantly  restored  to  freedom 
thousands  of  suffering  captives — which  would  have  released  every 
Federal  soldier  in  confinement  in  Confederate  prisons — was  not 
even  noticed.  Was  that  because  the  Federal  officials  did  not  deem 
it  worthy  of  a  reply,  or  because  they  feared  to  make  one?  As  the 
Federal  authorities  at  that  time  had  a  large  excess  of  prisoners,  the 
effect  of  the  proposal  which  I  had  made,  if  carried  out,  would  have 
been  to  release  all  Union  prisoners,  while  a  large  number  of  the 
Confederates  would  have  remained  in  prison,  awaiting  the  chances  of 
the  capture  of  their  equivalents. 

•      11. 

In  January,  1864,  and,  indeed,  some  time  earlier,  it  became  very 
manifest  that  in  consequence  of  the  complication  in  relation  to 
exchanges,  the  large  bulk  of  prisoners  on  both  sides  would  remain 
in  captivity  for  many  long  and  weary  months,  if  not  for  the  dura- 
tion of  the  war.  Prompted  by  an  earnest  desire  to  alleviate  the 
hardships  of  confinement  on  both  sides,  I  addressed  the  following 
communication  to  General  E.  A.  Hitchcock,  United  States  Com- 
missioner of  Exchange,  and  on  or  about  the  day  of  its  date  de- 
livered the  same  to  the  Federal  authority  : 

Confederate  States  of  America,  War  Department, 
Richmond,  Va.,  January  24,  1868. 

Major-Generad  E.  a.  Hitchcock, 

Agent  of  Evchange : 

Sir — In  view  of  the  present  difficulties  attending  the  exchange 
and  release  of  prisoners,  I  propose  that  all  such  on  each  side  shall 
be  attended  by  a  proper  number  of  their  own  surgeons,  who,  under 
rules  to  be  established,  shall  be  permitted  to  take  charge  of  their 
health  and  comfort. 

I  also  propose  that  these  surgeons  shall  act  as  commissaries, 
with  power  to  receive  and  distribute  such  contributions  of  money, 
food,  clothing  and  medicines  as  may  be  forwarded  for  the  relief  of 
prisoners.     I  further  propose  that  these  surgeons  be  selected  by 


128  Southern  Historical  Society  Papers. 

their  own  Governments,  and  that  they  shall  have  full  liberty  at  any 
and  all  times,  through  the  agents  of  exchange,  to  make  reports  not 
only  of  their  own  acts,  but  of  any  matters  relating  to  the  welfare 
of  prisoners. 

Respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

Robert  Ould, 
Agent  of  Exchange. 

To  this  comriiunication  no  reply  of  any  kind  ivas  ever  made.  I  need 
not  state  how  much  suffering  would  have  been  prevented  if  this 
offer  had  been  met  in  the  spirit  in  which  it  was  dictated.  In  ad- 
dition, the  world  would  have  had  truthful  accounts  of  the  treatment 
of  prisoners  on  both  sides  b}'  officers  of  character,  and  thus  much 
of  that  misrepresentation  which  has  flooded  the  country  would 
never  have  been  poured  forth.  The  jury-box  in  the  case  of  Wirz 
would  have  had  difierent  witnesses,  with  a  different  story.  It  will 
be  borne  in  mind  that  nearly  all  of  the  suffering  endured  by  Federal 
prisoners  happened  after  January,  1864.  The  acceptance  of  the 
proposition  made  by  me,  on  behalf  of  the  Confederate  Government, 
would  not  only  have  furnished  to  the  sick  medicines  and  physicians, 
but  to  the  well  an  abundance  of  food  and  clothing  from  the  ample 
stores  of  the  United  States. 

The  good  faith  of  the  Confederate  Government  in  making  this 
offer  cannot  be  successfully  questioned;  for  food  and  clothing  (with- 
out the  surgeons)  were  sent  in  1865,  and  were  allowed  to  be  dis- 
tributed by  Federal  officers  to  Federal  prisoners. 

Why  could  not  the  more  humane  proposal  of  January,  1864, 
have  been  accepted? 

III. 

When  it  was  ascertained  that  exchanges  could  not  be  made,  either 
on  the  basis  of  the  cartel,  or  officer  for  officer  and  man  for  man,  I 
was  instructed  b}^  the  Confederate  authorities  to  offer  to  the  United 
States  Government  their  sick  and  wounded  without  requiring  any 
equivalents.  Accordingly,  in  the  summer  of  1864,  I  did  offer  to  de- 
liver from  ten  to  fifteen  thousand  of  the  sick  and  wounded  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Savannah  river,  without  requiring  any  equivalents, 
assuring  at  the  same  time  the  agent  of  the  United  States,  General 
Mulford,that  if  the  number  for  which  he  might  send  transportation 
could  not  readily  be  made  np  from  sick  and  wounded,  I  would 
supply  the  difference  with  well  men.  Although  this  offer  was 
made  in  the  summer  of  1864,  transportation  was  not  sent  to  the 
Savannah  river  until  about  the  middle  or  last  of  November,  and 
then  I  delivered  as  many  prisoners  as  could  be  transported — some 
thirteen  thousand  in  number — amongst  whom  were  more  than  five 
thousand  well  men. 

More  than  once  I  urged  tlie  mortality  at  Andersonville  as  a  reason 
for  haste  on  the  part  of  the  United  States  authorities.  I  know,  per- 
sonally, that  it  was  the  purpose  of  the  Confederate  Government  to 
send  off  from  all  its  prisons  all  the  sick  and  wounded,  and  to  con- 


Treatment  of  Prisoners  During  the  War.  129 

tiniie  to  do  the  same,  from  time  to  time,  without  requiring  any 
equivalents  for  them.  It  was  because  the  sick  and  wounded  at 
points  distant  from  Georgia  could  not  be  brought  to  Savannah 
within  a  reasonable  time  that  the  five  thousand  well  men  were 
substituted. 

Although  the  terms  of  my  offer  did  not  require  the  Federal  au- 
^lorities  to  deliver  any  for  the  ten  or  fifteen  thousand  which  I 
promised,  yet  some  three  thousand  sick  and  wounded  Avere  de- 
livered by  them  at  the  mouth  of  the  Savannah  river.  I  call  upon 
every  Federal  and  Confederate  officer  and  man  Avho  saw  the  cargo 
of  living  death,  and  who  is  familiar  with  the  character  of  the  de- 
liveries made  by  the  Confederate  authorities,  to  bear  witness  that 
none  such  was  ever  made  by  the  latter,  even  when  the  very  sick 
and  desperately  wounded  alone  were  requested.  For,  on  two  oc- 
casions at  least,  such  were  specially  asked  for,  and  particular  re- 
quest was  made  for  those  who  were  so  desperately  sick  that  it  would 
be  doubtful  whether  they  would  survive  a  removal  a  few  miles 
down  James  river.  Accordingly,  the  hospitals  were  searched  for 
the  worst  cases,  and  after  they  were  delivered  they  were  taken  to 
Annapolis,  and  there  photographed  as  specimen  prisoners.  The 
photographs  at  Annapolis  Avere  terrible  indeed;  but  the  misery 
they  portrayed  was  surpassed  at  Savannah. 

The  original  rolls  showed  that  some  thirty-five  hundred  had 
started  from  Northern  prisons,  and  that  death  had  reduced  the 
number  during  the  transit  to  about  three  thousand.  The  mortality 
amongst  those  who  were  delivered  alive  during  the  following  three 
months  was  equally  frightful. 

But  why  was  there  this  delay  between  the  summer  and  Novem- 
ber in  sending  transportation  for  sick  and  wounded,  for  whom  no 
equivalents  were  asked?  Were  Union  prisoners  made  to  suff'er  in 
order  to  aid  the  photographs  "in  firing  the  popular  heart  of  the 
North?" 

IV. 

In  the  summer  of  1864,  in  consequence  of  certain  information 
communicated  to  me  by  the  Surgeon-General  of  the  Confederate 
States  as  to  the  deficiency  of  medicines,  I  offered  to  make  purchases 
of  medicines  from  the  United  States  authorities,  to  be  used  exclusively 
for  the  relief  of  Federal  prisoners.  I  offered  to  pay  gold,  cotton  or 
tobacco  for  them,  and  even  two  or  three  prices  if  required.  At  the 
same  time  I  gave  assurances  that  the  medicines  would  be  used  ex- 
clusively in  the  treatment  of  Federal  prisoners;  and  moreover 
agreed,  on  behalf  of  the  Confederate  States,  if  it  was  insisted  on, 
that  such  medicines  might  be  brought  into  the  Confederate  lines 
by  the  United  States  surgeons,  and  dispensed  by  them.  To  this 
offer  I  never  received  any  reply.  Incredible  as  this  appears,  it  is 
strictly  true. 


130  Southern  Historical  Soeiety  Papers. 


V. 

General  John  E.  Mulford  is  personally  cognizant  of  the  truth  of 
most,  if  not  all,  the  facts  which  I  have  narrated.  He  was  connected 
with  the  cartel  from  its  date  until  the  close  of  tlie  war.  During  a  por- 
tion of  the  time  he  was  Assistant  Agent  of  Exchange  on  the  part  of 
the  United  States.  I  always  found  him  to  be  an  honorable  and  truth- 
ful gentleman.  While  he  discharged  his  duties  with  great  fidelity 
to  his  own  Government,  he  was  kind — and  I  might  almost  say, 
tender — to  Confederate  prisoners.  With  that  portion  of  the  corre- 
spondence with  which  his  name  is  connected  he  is,  of  course,  fa- 
miliar. He  is  equally  so  with  the  delivery  made  at  Savannah  and 
its  attending  circumstances,  and  Avith  the  ofier  I  made  as  to  the 
purchase  of  medicines  for  the  Federal  sick  and  wounded.  I  appeal 
to  him  for  the  truth  of  what  I  have  written.  There  are  other 
Federal  corroborations  to  portions  of  my  statements.  They  are 
found  in  the  report  of  Major-General  B.  F.  Butler  to  the  "  Committee 
on  the  Conduct  of  the  War."  About  the  last  of  March,  1864,  I  had 
several  conferences  with  General  Butler  at  Fortress  Monroe  in  rela- 
tion to  the  difliculties  attending  the  exchange  of  prisoners,  and  we 
reached  what  we  both  thought  a  tolerably  satisfactory  basis. 

The  day  that  I  left  there  General  Grant  arrived.  General  Butler 
says  he  communicated  to  him  the  state  of  the  negotiations,  and 
"  most  emphatic  verbal  directions  were  received  from  the  Lieutenant- 
General  not  to  take  any  step  by  which  another  able  bodied  man 
should  be  exchanged  until  further  orders  from  him  ;"  and  that  on 
April  oO,  1SG4,  he  received  a  telegram  from  General  Grant  "to  re- 
ceive all  the  sick  and  wounded  the  Confederate  authorities  may 
send  you,  but  send  no  more  in  exchange."  Unless  my  recollection 
fails  me.  General  Butler  also,  in  an  address  to  his  constituents,  sub- 
stantially declared  that  he  was  directed  in  his  management  of  the 
question  of  exchange  with  the  Confederate  authorities,  to  put  the 
matter  offensively,  ybr  the  imrpose  of  pr evening  an  exchange. 

The  facts  which  I  have  stated  are  also  well  known  to  tlie  officers 
connected  with  the  Confederate  Bureau  of  Exchange. 

At  one  time  I  thought  an  excellent  opportunity  was  offered  of 
bringing  some  of  them  to  the  attention  of  the  country.  I  was 
named  by  poor  Wirz  as  a  witness  in  his  behalf.  The  summons 
was  issued  by  Chipman,  the  Judge  Advocate  of  the  military  court. 
I  obeyed  the  summons,  and  was  in  attendance  upon  the  court  for 
some  ten  days.  The  investigation  had  taken  a  wide  range  as  to  the 
conduct  of  the  Confederate  and  Federal  Governments  in  the  matter 
of  the  treatment  of  prisoners,  and  I  thought  the  time  had  come 
when  I  could  put  befere  the  world  these  humane  ofiers  of  the  Con- 
federate authorities,  and  the  manner  in  which  they  had  been  treated. 
I  so  expressed  myself  more  than  once — perhaps  too  publicly.  But 
it  was  a  vain  thought. 

Early  in  the  morning  of  the  day  on  which  I  expected  to  give  my 
testimony,  I  received  a  note  from  Chipman,  the  Judge  Advocate, 


Treatment  of  Prisoners  During  the  War.  131 

requiring  me  to  surrender  my  subpoena.  I  refused,  as  it  was  my 
protection  in  Washington.  Without  it  the  doors  of  the  Old  Capitol 
Prison  might  have  opened  and  closed  upon  me.  I  engaged,  however, 
to  appear  before  the  court,  and  I  did  so  the  same  morning,  I  still 
refused  to  surrender  my  subpoena,  and  thereupon  the  Judge  Advo- 
cate endorsed  on  it  these  words :  "  The  within  subpoena  is  hereby 
revoked ;  the  person  named  is  discharged  from  further  attendance." 
I  have  got  the  curious  document  before  me  now,  signed  with  the 
name  of  "  N.  P.  Chipman,  Colonel,"  &c.  I  intend  to  keep  it,  if  I 
can,  as  the  evidence  of  the  first  case,  in  any  court  of  any  sort,  where 
a  witness  who  was  summoned  for  the  defence  was  dismissed  by  the 
prosecution.  I  hastened  to  depart,  confident  that  Richmond  was  a 
safer  place  for  me  than  the  metropolis. 

Some  time  ago  a  committee  was  appointed  by  the  House  of 
Representatives  to  investigate  the  treatment  of  Union  prisoners  in 
Southern  prisons.  After  the  appointment  of  the  committee — the 
Hon.  Mr.  Shanks,  of  Indiana,  being  its  chairman — I  wrote  to  the 
Hon.  Charles  A.  Eldridge  and  the  Hon.  Mr.  Mungen  (the  latter  a 
member  of  the  committee)  some  of  the  facts  herein  detailed.  Both 
of  these  gentlemen  made  an  effort  to  extend  the  authority  of 
the  committee  so  that  it  might  inquire  into  the  treatment  of 
prisoners  North  as  well  as  South,  and  especially  that  it  might 
inquire  into  the  truth  of  the  matters  which  I  had  alleged.  All 
these  attempts  were  frustrated  by  the.  Radical  majority,  although 
several  of  the  party  voted  to  extend  the  inquiry.  As  several  thou- 
sand dollars  of  the  money  of  the  people  have  been  spent  by  this 
committee,  will  not  they  demand  that  the  investigation  shall  be 
thorough  and  impartial  ?  The  House  of  Representatives  have  de- 
clined the  inquiry ;  let  the  peoj)le  take  it  up. 

Respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

Robert  Ould. 

We  may  add  to  the  above  statement  that  (through  the  courtesy 
of  Judge  Ould)  we  now  have  on  our  table  the  letter-book  of  our 
Commissioner  of  Exchange,  containing  copies  of  all  of  his  official 
letters  to  the  Federal  authorities,  and  they  prove,  beyond  the 
shadow  of  a  doubt,  every  point  which  he  makes. 

If  it  be  replied  to  the  above  testimony  that  President  Davis, 
General  Lee,  Vice-President  Stevens  and  Judge  Ould  were  "all 
criminals  in  this  matter,"  and  that  their  testimony  is  thereby  in- 
validated, we  will  not  pause  to  defend  these  high-toned  gentlemen, 
whom  the  verdict  of  history  will  pronounce  as  stainless  as  any 
public  men  who  ever  lived,  but  we  will  proceed  to  introduce  testi- 
mony of  a  different  character.  While  the  Northern  press  was 
ringing  with  the  charge  of  "  Rebel  barbarity  to  prisoners,"  the  Con- 
federate Congress  raised  a  joint  committee  of  the  Senate  and  House 


132  Southern  Historical  Society  Papers. 

of  Representatives  to  consider  the  whole  subject  of  the  treatment  of 
prisoners.  The  Chairman  was  Judge  J.  W.  C.  Watson,  of  Holly 
Springs,  Mississippi,  an  elder  of  the  Presbj^terian  Church  and  a  pure 
minded,  Christian  gentleman,  and  the  committee  was  composed  of 
gentlemen  of  highest  character,  who  were  absolutely  incapable  of 
either  countenancing  or  whitewashing  cruelty  to  prisoners,  or  of  sub- 
scribing their  names  to  statements  not  proven  to  be  true.  After  a 
full  investigation,  and  the  taking  of  a  large  volume  of  testimony, 
the  committee  submitted  a  report.  The  testimony  was  being 
printed  when  Richmond  was  evacuated,  and  was  unfortunately 
consumed  in  the  great  conflagration.  A  few  copies  of  the  report 
were  saved,  and  we  have  secured  one  for  our  archives,  which  we 
now  give  in  full : 

Report  of  the  Joint  Committee  of  the  Confederate  Congrress  ai)j)oiuted  to 
Investigate  the  Condition  and  Treatment  of  Prisoners  of  War. 

[Presented  March  3d,  1SG5.] 

The  duties  assigned  to  the  committee  under  the  several  resolu- 
tions of  Congress  designating  them,  are  "to  investigate  and  report 
upon  the  condition  and  treatment  of  the  prisoners  of  war  respec- 
tively held  by  the  Confederate  and  United  Srates  Governments ; 
upon  the  causes  of  their  detention,  and  the  refusal  to  exchange; 
and  also  upon  the  violations  by  the  enemy  of  the  rules  of  civilized 
warfare  in  the  conduct  of  the  war."  These  subjects  are  broad  in 
extent  and  importance ;  and  in  order  fully  to  investigate  and  pre- 
sent them,  the  committee  propose  to  continue  their  labors  in  ob- 
taining evidence,  and  deducing  from  it  a  truthful  report  of  facts 
illustrative  of  the  spirit  in  which  the  war  has  been  conducted. 

NORTHERN    PUBLICATIONS. 

But  we  deem  it  proper  at  this  time  to  make  a  preliminar}'  report, 
founded  upon  evidence  recently  taken,  relating  to  the  treatment  of 
prisoners  of  war  by  both  belligerents.  This  report  is  rendered  spe- 
cially important,  by  reason  of  persistent  efforts  lately  made  by  the 
Government  of  the  United  States,  and  by  associations  and  indi- 
viduals connected  or  co-operating  with  it,  to  asperse  the  honor  of 
the  Confederate  authorities,  and  to  charge  them  with  deliberate 
and  wilful  cruelt}^  to  prisoners  of  war.  Two  publications  have 
been  issued  at  the  North  within  the  past  year,  and  have  been  cir- 
culated not  only  in  the  United  States,  but  in  some  parts  of  the 
South,  and  in  Europe.  One  of  these  is  the  report  of  the  joint  select 
committee  of  the  Northern  Congress  on  the  conduct  of  the  war, 
known  as  "  Report  No.  67."  The  other  purports  to  be  a  "  Narra- 
tive of  the  privations  and  sufferings  of  United  States  officers  and 
soldiers  while  prisoners  of  war,"  and  is  issued  as  a  report  of  a  com- 


Treatment  of  Prisoners  During  the  War.  133 

mission  of  inquiry  appointed  by  "The   United   States  Sanitary 
Commission." 

This  body  is  alleged  to  consist  of  Valentine  Mptt,  M.  D.,  Edward 
Delafield,  M.  D.,  Gonverneur  Morris  Wilkins,  Esq.,  Ellerslie  Wal- 
lace, M.  D.,  Hon.  J.  J.  Clarke  Hare,  and  Rev.  Treadwell  Walden. 
Although  these  persons  are  not  of  sufficient  public  importance  and 
weight  to  give  authority  to  their  publications,  yet  your  committee 
have  deemed  it  proper  to  notice  it  in  connection  with  the  "  Report 
No.  67,"  before  mentioned ;  because  the  Sanitary  Commission  has 
been  understood  to  have  acted,  to  a  great  extent,  under  the  control 
and  by  the  authority  of  the  United  States  Government,  and  because 
their  report  claims  to  be  founded  on  evidence  taken  in  solemn  form, 

TPIEIR  SPIRIT  AND   INTENT. 

A  candid  reader  of  these  publications  will  not  fail  to  discover 
that,  whether  the  statements  they  make  be  true  or  not,  their  sj^irit 
ig  not  adapted  to  promote  a  better  feeling  between  the  hostile 
powers.  They  are  not  intended  for  the  humane  purpose  of  ameli- 
orating the  condition  of  the  unhappy  prisoners  held  in  captivity. 
They  are  designed  to  inflame  the  evil  passions  of  the  North ;  to 
keep  up  the  war  spirit  among  their  own  people ;  to  represent  the 
South  as  acting  under  the  dominion  of  a  spirit  of  cruelty,  inhu- 
manity and  interested  malice,  and  thus  to  vilify  her  people  in  the 
eyes  of  all  on  whom  these  publications  can  work.  They  are  justly  cha- 
racterized by  the  Hon.  James  M.  Mason  as  belonging  to  that  class 
of  literature  called  the  "  sensational,"  a  style  of  writing  prevalent 
for  many  years  at  the  North,  and  which,  beginning  with  the  writers 
of  newspaper  narratives  and  cheap  fiction,  has  gradually  extended 
itself,  until  it  is  now  the  favored  mode  adopted  by  medical  profes- 
sors, judges  of  courts  and  reverend  clergymen,  and  is  even  chosen 
.as  the  proper  style  for  a  report  by  a  committee  of  their  Congress. 

PHOTOGRAPHS. 

Nothing  can  better  illustrate  the  truth  of  this  view  than  the  "  Re- 
port No.  67,"  and  its  appendages.  It  is  accompanied  by  eight  pic- 
tures  or  photographs,  alleged  to  represent  United  States  prisoners  of 
war  returned  from  Richmond  in  a  sad  state  of  emaciation  and  suf- 
fering. Concerning  these  cases  your  committee  will  have  other 
remarks,  to  be  presently  submitted.  They  are  only  alluded  to  now 
to  show  that  this  report  does  really  belong  to  the  "sensational" 
class  of  literature,  and  that,  prima  facie,  it  is  open  to  the  same  criti- 
cism to  which  the  yellow  covered  novels,  the  "  narratives  of  noted 
highwaymen,"  and  the  "  awful  beacons"  of  the  Northern  book  stalls 
should  be  subjected. 

The  intent  and  spirit  of  this  report  may  be  gathered  from  the 
I  following  extract:  "The  evidence  proves,  beyond  all  manner  of 
I  doubt,  a  determination  on  the  part  of  the  Rebel  authorities,  delibe- 
|i  rately  an,d  persistently  practiced  for  a  long  time  past,  to  subject 


134:  Southern  Historical  Society  Papers. 

those  of  our  soldiers  who  have  been  so  unfortunate  as  to  fall  into 
their  hands  to  a  system  of  treatment  which  has  resulted  in  reducing 
many  of  those  who  have  survived  and  been  permitted  to  return  to 
us  to  a  condition,  both  physically  and  mentally,  which  no  language 
we  can  use  can  adequately  describe."  (Report,  p.  1.)  And  the}'' 
give  also  a  letter  from  Edwin  M.  Stanton,  the  Northern  Secretary  of 
War,  from  which  the  following  is  an  extract:  "The  enormity  of 
the  crime  committed  by  the  Rebels  towards  our  prisoners  for  the 
last  several  months  is  not  known  or  realized  by  our  people,  and 
cannot  but  fill  with  horror  the  civilized  world  when  the  facts  are 
fully  revealed.  There  appears  to  have  been  a  deliberate  system  of 
savage  and  barbarous  treatment  and  starvation,  the  result  of  wliich 
will  be  that  few  (if  any)  of  the  prisoners  that  have  been  in  their 
hands  during  the  past  winter  will  ever  again  be  in  a  condition  to 
render  any  service,  or  even  to  enjoy  life."  (Report,  p.  4.)  And  the 
Sanitary  Commission,  in  their  pamphlet,  after  picturing  many 
scenes  of  privation  and  suffering,  and  bringing  many  charges  of  cru- 
elty against  the  Confederate  authorities,  declare  as  follows:  "Tli« 
conclusion  is  unavoidable,  therefore,  that  these  privations  and  suf- 
ferings have  been  designedly  iniiicted  by  the  military  and  other 
authorities  of  the  Rebel  Government,  and  could  not  have  been  due 
to  causes  which  such  authorities  could  not  control."  (X.  95.) 

TRUTH   TO   BE   SOUGHT. 

After  examining  these  publications  your  committee  approached 
the  subject  with  an  earnest  desire  to  ascertain  the  truth.  If  their 
investigation  should  result  in  ascertaining  that  these  charges  (or 
any  of  them)  were  true,  the  committee  desired,  as  far  as  might  be 
in  their  poAver,  and  as  far  as  they  could  influence  the  Congress,  to 
remove  the  evils  complained  of  and  to  conform  to  the  most  humane 
spirit  of  civilization;  and  if  these  charges  were  unfounded  and  fixlse, 
they  deemed  it  a  sacred  duty  without  delay  to  present  to  the  Con- 
federate Congress  and  people,  and  to  the  public  eye  of  the  en- 
lightened world,  a  vindication  of  their  country,  and  to  relieve  her 
authorities  from  the  injurious  slanders  brought  against  her  by  her 
enemies.  With  these  views  we  have  taken  a  considerable  amount 
of  testimony  bearing  on  the  subject.  We  have  sought  to  obtain 
witnesses  whose  position  or  duties  made  them  familiar  with  the 
facts  testified  to,  and  whose  characters  entitled  them  to  full  credit. 
We  have  not  hesitated  to  examine  Northern  i)risoners  of  war  upon 
points  and  experience  specially  within  their  knowledge.  We  now 
present  the  testimony  taken  by  us,  and  submit  a  report  of  facts  and 
inferences  fairly  deducible  from  the  evidence,  from  the  admissions 
of  our  enemies,  and  from  public  records  of  undoubted  authority. 

FACTS    AS   TO   SICK    AND   WOUNDED    PKISONERS. 

First  in  order,  your  coinmittee  will  notice  the  charge  contained 
both  in  "Report  No.  67"  and  in  the  "sanitary"  publication,  founded 
on  the  appearance  and  condition  of  the  sick  prisoners  sent  from 


Treatment  of  Prisoners  During  the  War.  135 

Hichmond  to  Annapolis  and  Baltimore  about  the  last  of  April,  1864. 
'These  are  the  men  some  of  whom  form  the  subjects  of  the  photo- 
graphs with  which  the  United  States  Congressional  Committee  have 
adorned  their  report.  The  disingenuous  attempt  is  made  in  both 
these  publications  to  produce  the  impression  that  these  sick  and 
emaciated  men  were  Mr  representatives  of  the  general  state  of  the 
prisoners  held  by  the  South,  and  that  all  their  prisoners  were  being 
rapidly  reduced  to  the  same  state  by  starvation  and  cruelty,  and 
by  neglect,  ill  treatment  and  denial  of  projDer  food,  stimulants  and 
medicines  in  the  Confederate  hospitals.  Your  committee  take 
pleasure  in  saying  that  not  only  is  this  charge  proved  to  be  wholly 
false,  but  the  evidence  ascertains  facts  as  to  the  Confederate  hospi- 
tals, in  which  Northern  prisoners  of  war  are  treated,  highly  credi- 
table 1o  the  authorities  which  established  them,  and  to  the  surgeons 
and  their  aids  who  have  so  humanely  conducted  them.  The  facts 
are  simply  these: 

The  Federal  authorities,  in  violation  of  the  cartel,  having  for  a 
long  time  refused  exchange  of  prisoners,  finally  consented  to  a  par- 
tial exchange  of  the  sick  and  wounded  on  both  sides.  Accordingly 
a  number  of  such  prisoners  were  sent  from  the  hospitals  in  Rich- 
mond. General  directions  had  been  given  that  none  should  be 
sent  except  those  who  might  be  expected  to  endure  the  removal 
■and  passage  with  safety  to  their  lives ;  but  in  some  cases  the  sur- 
geons were  induced  to  depart  from  this  rule  by  the  entreaties  of 
some  officers  and  men  in  the  last  stages  of  emaciation,  suffering  not 
only  witli  excessive  debility,  but  with  "nostalgia,"  or  homesick- 
ness, ^vhose  cases  were  regarded  as  desperate,  and  who  could  not 
live  if  they  remained,  and  might  possibly  improve  if  carried  home. 
Thus  it  happened  that  some  very  sick  and  emaciated  men  were 
•carried  to  Annapolis,  but  their  illness  was  not  the  result  of  ill  treat- 
ment or  neglect.  Such  cases  might  be  found  in  any  large  hospital, 
North  or  South.  They  might  even  be  found  in  private  families, 
where  the  sufferer  might  be  surrounded  by  every  comfort  that  love 
could  bestow.  Yet  these  are  the  cases  which,  with  hideous  viola- 
tion of  decency,  the  Northern  committee  have  paraded  in  pictures 
and  photographs.  They  have  taken  their  own  sick  and  enfeebled 
soldiers;  have  stripped  them  naked;  have  exposed  them  before  a 
daguerreian  apparatus;  have  pictured  every  shrunken  limb  and 
muscle;  and  all  for  the  purpose,  not  of  relieving  their  sufferings, 
but  of  bringing  a  false  and  slanderous  charge  against  the  South. 

CONFEDERATE   SICK    AND   WOUNDED — THEIR   CONDITION    WHEN 
RETURNED. 

The  evidence  is  overwhelming  that  the  illness  of  these  prisoners 
was  not  the  result  of  ill  treatment  or  neglect.  The  testimony  of 
Surgeons  Semple  and  Spence;  of  Assistant  Surgeons  Tinsley,  Mar- 
riott and  Miller,  and  of  the  Federal  prisoners  E.  P.  Dairy mple, 
George  Henry  Brown  and  Freeman  B.  Teague,  ascertains  this  to 
the  satisfaction  of  every  candid  mind.     But  in  refuting  this  charge, 


1 


136  Southern  Historical  Society  Papei'S. 


your  committee  are  compelled  by  the  evidence  to  bring  a  counter 
charge  against  the  Northern  authorities,  which  they  fear  will  not 
be  so  easily  refuted.  In  exchange,  a  number  of  Confederate  sick 
and  wounded  prisoners  have  been  at  various  times  delivered  at 
Richmond  and  at  Savannah.  The  mortality  among  these  on  the 
passage  and  their  condition  when  delivered  were  so  deplorable  as 
to  justify  the  charge  that  they  had  been  treated  with  inhuman  ne- 
glect by  the  Northern  authorities. 

Assistant  Surgeon  Tinsley  testifies :  "  I  have  seen  many  of  our 
prisoners  returned  from  the  North  who  were  nothing  but  skin  and 
bones.  They  were  as  emaciated  as  a  man  could  be  to  retain  life, 
and  the  photographs  (appended  to  '  Report  No.  67 ')  would  not  be 
exaggerated  representations  of  our  returned  prisoners  to  whom  I 
thus  allude.  I  saw  250  of  our  sick  brought  in  on  litters  from  the 
steamer  at  Rocketts.  Thirteen  dead  bodies  were  brought  off  the 
steamer  the  same  night.  At  least  thirty  died  in  one  night  after  they 
were  received." 

Surgeon  Spence  testifies:  "I  was  at  Savannah,  and  saw  rather 
over  three  thousand  prisoners  received.  The  list  showed  that  a 
large  number  had  died  on  the  passage  from  Baltimore  to  Savannah. 
The  number  sent  from  the  Federal  prisons  was  3,500,  and  out  of 
that  number  they  delivered  only  3,028,  to  the  best  of  my  recollec- 
tion. Captain  Hatch  can  give  you  the  exact  number.  Thus,  about 
472  died  on  the  passage.  I  was  told  that  67  dead  bodies  had  been 
taken  from  one  train  of  cars  between  Elmira  and  Baltimore.  After 
being  received  at  Savannah,  they  had  the  best  attention  possible, 
yet  many  died  in  a  few  days." — "  In  carrying  out  the  exchange  of 
disabled,  sick  and  wounded  men,  we  delivered  at  Savannah  and 
Charleston  about  11,000  Federal  prisoners,  and  their  physical  con- 
dition compared  most  favorably  with  those  we  received  in  exchange, 
although  of  course  the  worst  cases  among  the  Confederates  had  been 
removed  by  death  during  the  passage." 

Richard  H.  Dibrell,  a  merchant  of  Richmond,  and  a  member  of 
the  "Ambulance  Committe,"  whose  labors  in  mitigating  the  suffer- 
ings of  the  wounded  have  been  acknowledged  both  by  Confederate 
and  Northern  men,  thus  testifies  concerning  our  sick  and  wounded 
soldiers  at  Savannah,  returned  from  Northern  prisons  and  hospitals : 
"I  have  never  seen  a  set  of  men  in  worse  condition.  They  were  so 
enfeebled  and  emaciated  tliat  we  lifted  them  like  little  children. 
Many  of  them  were  like  living  skeletons.  Indeed,  there  Avas  one 
poor  bo}',  about  17  years  old,  who  presented  tlie  most  distressing 
and  dei)lorable  appearance  I  ever  saw.  He  was  nothing  but  skin 
and  lx)ne,  and  besides  this,  he  was  literally  eaten  up  with  vermin. 
He  died  in  the  hospital  in  a  few  days  after  being  removed  thither, 
notwithstandhig  the  kindest  treatment  and  the  use  of  the  most 
judicious  nourishment.  Our  men  were  in  so  reduced  a  condition, 
that  on  more  than  one  trip  up  on  the  short  passage  of  ten  miles  from 
the  transports  to  the  city,  as  many  as  five  died.  Tlie  clothing  of  the 
privates  was  in  a  wretched  state  of  tatters  and  filtli." — "The  mor- 


Ttxatment  of  Prisoners  During  the  War.  137' 

tality  on  the  passage' from  Maryland  was  very  great,  as  well  as  that 
on  the  passage  from  the  prisons  to  the  port  from  which  they  started. 
I  cannot  state  the  exact  number,  but  I  think  I  heard  that  3,500 
were  started,  and  we  only  received  about  3,027." — "  I  have  looked 
at  the  photographs  appended  to  '  Report  No.  67 '  of  the  committee 
of  the  Federal  Congress,  and  do  not  hesitate  to  declare  that  several 
of  our  men  were  Avorse  cases  of  emaciation  and  sickness  than  any 
represented  in  these  photographs." 

The  testimony  of  Mr.  Dibrell  is  confirmed  by  that  of  Andrew 
Johnston,  also  a  merchant  of  Richmond,  and  a  member  of  the 
"Ambulance  Committee." 

Thus  it  appears  that  the  sick  and  wounded  Federal  prisoners  at 
Annapolis,  whose  condition  has  been  made  a  subject  of  outcry  and 
of  wide-spread  complaint  by  the  Northern  Congress,  were  not  in  a 
worse  state  than  were  the  Confederate  prisoners  returned  from  North- 
ern hospitals  and  prisons,  of  which  the  humanity  and  superior 
management  are  made  subjects  of  special  boasting  by  the  United 
States  Sanitary  Commission! 

CONFEDERATE    HOSPITALS   FOR   PRISONERS. 

In  connection  with  this  subject,  your  committee  take  pleasure  in 
reporting  the  facts  ascertained  by  their  investigations  concerning 
the  Confederate  hospitals  for  sick  and  wounded  Federal  prisoners. 
They  have  made  personal  examination,  and  have  taken  evidence 
specially  in  relation  to  "Hospital  No.  21,"  in  Richmond,  because 
this  has  been  made  the  subject  of  distinct  charge  in  the  publication 
last  mentioned.  It  has  been  shown  not  only  by  the  evidence  of 
the  surgeons  and  their  assistants,  but  by  that  of  Federal  prisoners, 
that  the  treatment  of  the  Northern  j)risoners  in  these  hospitals  has 
been  everything  that  humanity  could  dictate;  that  their  wards 
have  been  well  ventilated  and  clean ;  their  food  the  best  that  could 
be  procured  for  them — and  in  fact  that  no  distinction  has  been 
made  between  their  treatment  and  that  of  our  own  sick  and  Avounded 
men.  Moreover,  it  is  proved  that  it  has  been  the  constant  practice 
to  supply  to  the  patients,  out  of  the  hospital  funds,  such  articles  as 
milk,  butter,  eggs,  tea  and  other  delicacies,  when  they  were  required 
by  the  condition  of  the  patient.  This  is  proved  by  the  testimony 
of  E.  P.  Dalrymple  of  New  York,  George  Henry  Brown  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, and  Freeman  B.  Teague  of  New  HamjDshire,  whose  depositions 
accompany  this  report. 

CONTRAST. 

This  humane  and  considerate  usage  was  not  adopted  in  the  United 
States  hospital  on  .Johnson's  Island,  where  Confederate  sick  and 
wounded  otBcers  were  treated.  Colonel  J.  H.  Holman  thus  testifies : 
"The  Federal  authorities  did  not  furnish  to  the  sick  prisoners  the 
nutriment  and  other  articles  which  were  prescribed  by  their  own 
surgeons.  All  they  would  do  was  to  permit  the  prisoners  to  buy 
the  nutriment  or  stimulants  needed ;  and  if  they  had  no  money,. 


138  Southern  Historical  Society  Papers. 

they  could  not  get  them.  I  know  this,  for  I  was  in  the  hospital 
sick  myself,  and  I  had  to  buy  myself  such  articles  as  eggs,  milk, 
flour,  chickens  and  butter,  after  their  doctors  had  prescribed  them. 
And  I  know  this  was  generally  the  case,  for  we  had  to  get  up  a  fund 
among  ourselves  for  this  purpose,  to  aid  those  who  were  not  well 
supplied  with  money."  This  statement  is  confirmed  by  the  testi- 
mony of  Acting  Assistant  Surgeon  John  J.  Miller,  who  was  at  John- 
son's Island  for  more  than  eight  months.  When  it  is  remembered 
tliat  such  articles  as  eggs,  milk  and  butter  were  very  scarce  and  high 
priced  in  Richmond,  and  plentiful  and  cheap  at  the  North,  the 
contrast  thus  presented  may  well  put  to  shame  the  "Sanitary  Com- 
mission," and  dissipate  the  self-complacency  with  which  they  have 
boasted  of  the  superior  humanity  in  the  Northern  prisons  and 
hospitals. 

CHARGE   OF    ROBBING   PRISONERS. 

Yourconnnittee  now  proceed  to  notice  other  charges  in  these  pub- 
lications. It  is  said  that  their  prisoners  were  habitually  stripped 
of  blankets  and  other  property,  on  being  captured.  What  pillage 
may  have  been  committed  on  the  battle-field,  after  the  excitement 
of  combat,  your  committee  cannot  know.  But  they  feel  well  as- 
sured that  such  pillage  was  never  encouraged  by  the  Confederate 
generals,  and  bore  no  comparison  to  the  wholesale  robbery  and 
destitution  to  which  the  Federal  armies  have  abandoned  themselves, 
in  possessing  jaarts  of  our  territory.  It  is  certain  that  after  the 
prisoners  were  brought  to  the  Lil)l)y,  and  other  ]:>risons  in  Rich- 
mond, no  such  pillage  was  permitted.  Onh^  articles  which  came 
properly  under  the  head  of  munitions  of  war  were  taken  from 
them. 

SHOOTING    PRISONERS. 

The  next  charge  noticed  is,  that  the  guards  around  tlie  Libby 
Prison  were  in  the  habit  of  recklessly  and  inhumanly  shooting  at 
the  prisoners  upon  the  most  frivolous  pretexts,  and  that  the  Con- 
federate officers,  so  far  from  forbidding  this,  rather  encouraged  it, 
and  made  it  a  subject  of  sportive  remark.  This  charge  is  wholly 
false  and  baseless.  The  "  Rules  and  Regulations"  appended  to  the 
deposition  of  Major  Thomas  P.  Turner,  expressly  provide,  "Nor 
shall  any  prisoner  be  fired  upon  by  a  sentinel  or  other  person,  ex- 
cept in  case  of  revolt  or  attempted  escape."  Five  or  six  cases 
have  occurred  in  Avhich  prisoners  have  been  fii'ed  on  and  killed  or 
hurt;  but  every  case  has  been  made  the  subject  of  careful  investi- 
gation and  report,  as  will  appear  by  the  evidence.  As  a  proper 
■  comment  on  this  charge,  your  committee  report  that  the  practice 
of  firing  on  our  prisoners  l)y  the  guards  in  the  Northern  prisons 
appears  to  have  been  indulged  in  to  a  most  brutal  and  atrocious 
extent.  See  the  depositions  of  C.  C.  Ilerrington,  William  F.  Gor- 
don, Jr.,  J.  B.  McCreary,  Dr.  Thomas  P.  Hollowa}^,  and  John  P. 
Fennell.  At  Fort  Delaware  a  cruel  regulation  as  to  the  use  of  the 
'"sinks"  was  made  the  pretext  for  firing  on  and  nnirdering  several 


Treatment  of  Prisoners  During  the  War.  139 

of  our  men  and  officers,  among  them  Lieutenant-Colonel  Jones, 
who  was  lame,  and  was  shot  down  by  the  sentinel  while  helpless 
and  feeble  and  while  seeking  to  explain  his  condition.  Yet  this 
sentinel  was  not  only  not  punished,  but  was  promoted  for  his  act. 
At  Camp  Douglas  as  many  as  eighteen  of  our  men  are  reported  to 
have  been  shot  in  a  single  month.  These  facts  may  well  produce 
a  conviction,  in  the  candid  observer,  that  it  is  the  North  and  not 
the  South  that  is  open  to  the  charge  of  deliberately  and  wilfully 
destroying  the  lives  of  the  prisoners  held  by  her. 

MEANS   FOR   SECURING    CLEANLINESS. 

The  next  charge  is,  that  the  Libby  and  Belle  Isle  prisoners  were 
habitually  kept  in  a  filthy  condition,  and  that  the  officers  and 
men  confined  there  were  prevented  from  keeping  themselves  suffi- 
ciently clean  to  avoid  vermin  and  similar  discomforts.  The  evi- 
dence clearl}^  contradicts  this  charge.  It  is  proved  by  the  deposi- 
tions of  Major  Turner,  Lieutenant  Bossieux,  Rev.  Dr.  McCabe,  and 
others,  that  the  prisons  were  kept  constantly  and  systematically 
policed  and  cleansed;  that  in  the  Libby  there  was  an  ample  supply 
of  water  conducted  to  each  floor  by  the  city  pipes,  and  that  the 
prisoners  were  not  only  not  restricted  in  its  use,  but  urged  to  keep 
themselves  clean.  At  Belle  Isle,  for  a  brief  season  (about  three 
weeks),  in  consequence  of  a  sudden  increase  in  the  number  of  pri- 
soners, the  police  was  interrupted,  but  it  was  soon  restored,  and 
ample  means  for  washing  both  themselves  and  their  clothes  were 
at  all  times  furnished  to  the  prisoners.  It  is  doubtless  true  that, 
notwithstanding  these  facilities,  many  of  the  prisoners  were  lousy 
and  filthy  ;  but  it  was  the  result  of  their  own  habits,  and  not  of  ne- 
glect in  the  discipline  or  arrangements  of  the  prison.  Many  of  the 
prisoners  were  captured  and  brought  in  while  in  this  condition. 
The  Federal  General  Neal  Dow  well  expressed  their  character  and 
habits.  When  he  came  to  distribute  clothing  among  them,  he  was 
met  by  profane  abuse ;  and  he  said  to  the  Confederate  officer  in 
charge,  "You  have  here  the  scraipings  and  rakings  of  Europe.''^  That 
such  men  should  be  filthy  in  their  habits  might  be  expected. 

CHARGE   OF   WITHHOLDING    AND    PILLAGING    BOXES. 

We  next  notice  the  charge  that  the  boxes  of  provisions  and  cloth- 
ing sent  to  the  prisoners  from  the  North  were  not  delivered  to  them, 
and  were  habitually  robbed  and  plundered  by  permission  of  the 
Confederate  authorities.  The  evidence  satisfies  your  committee 
that  this  charge  is,  in  all  substantial  points,  untrue.  For  a  period 
of  about  one  month  there  was  a  stoppage  in  the  delivery  of  boxes, 
caused  by  a  report  that  tlie  Federal  authorities  were  forbidding  the 
delivery  of  similar  supplies  to  our  prisoners.  But  the  boxes  were 
put  in  a  warehouse,  and  were  afterwards  delivered.  For  some  time 
no  search  was  made  of  boxes  from  the  "Sanitary  Committee,"  in- 
tended for  the  prisoners'  hospitals.    ,But  a  letter  was  intercepted 


140  Southern  Historical  Society  Papers. 

advising  tliat  money  should  be  sent  in  these  boxes,  "as  they  were 
never  searched;"  which  money  was  to  be  used  in  bribing  the  guards, 
and  thus  releasing  the  prisoners.  After  this  it  was  deemed  neces- 
sary to  search  every  box,  which  necessarily  produced  some  delay. 
Your  committee  are  satisfied  that  if  these  boxes  or  their  contents 
were  robbed,  the  prison  officials  are  not  responsible  therefor.  Be- 
yond doubt,  robberies  were  often  committed  by  prisoners  them- 
selves, to  whom  the  contents  were  delivered  for  distril)ution  to  their 
owners.  Notwithstanding  all  this  alleged  pillage,  tlie  supplies  seem 
to  have  been  sufficient  to  keep  the  quarters  of  the  prisoners  so  well 
furnished  that  they  frequently  presented,  in  the  language  of  a  wit- 
ness, "the  appearance  of  a  large  grocery  store." 

THE    FEDERAL  COLONEL   SANDERSON's   TESTIMONY. 

In  connection  with  this  point,  your  committee  refer  to  the  testi- 
mony of  a  Federal  officer — Colonel  James  M.  Sanderson — whose 
letter  is  annexed  to  the  deposition  of  Major  Turner.  He  testifies 
to  the  full  delivery  of  the  clothing  and  supplies  from  the  North, 
and  to  the  humanity  and  kindness  of  the  Confederate  officers,  spe- 
cially mentioning  Lieutenant  Bossieux,  commanding  on  Belle  Isle. 
His  letter  was  addressed  to  the  President  of  tlie  United  States  Sani- 
tary Commission,  and  was  beyond  doubt  received  by  them,  having 
been  forwarded  by  the  regular  flag  of  truce.  Yet  the  scrupulous 
and  honest  gentlemen  composing  that  commission  have  not  found 
it  convenient  for  their  purposes  to  insert  this  letter  in  their  publi- 
cation. Had  they  been  really  searching  for  the  truth,  this  letter 
would  have  aided  them  in  finding  it. 

MINE   UNDER   THE    LIBBY    PRISON, 

Your  committee  proceed  next  to  notice  the  allegation  that  the 
Confederate  authorities  had  prepared  a  mine  under  the  Libby 
prison,  and  placed  in  it  a  quantity  of  gunpowder  for  the  purpose 
of  blowing  up  the  buildings,  with  their  inmates,  in  case  of  an  at- 
tempt to  rescue  them.  After  ascertaining  all  the  facts  bearing  on 
this  subject,  your  committee  l^elieve  that  what  Avas  done,  under  the 
circumstances,  will  meet  a  verdict  of  approval  from  all  whose  pre- 
judices do  not  blind  them  to  the  truth.  The  state  of  things  was 
unprecedented  in  history,  and  must  be  judged  of  according  to  the  mo- 
tives at  work  and  the  result  accomplished.  A  large  body  of  Northern 
raiders,  under  one  Colonel  Dahlgren,  was  approaching  Richmond. 
It  was  ascertained,  by  the  reports  of  prisoners  captured  from  them, 
and  other  evidence,  that  their  design  was  to  enter  the  city,  to  set 
fire  to  the  buildings,  public  and  private — for  which  purpose  tur- 
pentine balls  in  great  number  had  been  prepared — to  murder  the 
President  of  tlie  Confederate  States  and  other  prominent  men — to 
release  the  prisoners  of  war,  then  numbering  five  or  six  thousand — 
to  put  arms  into  their  hands,  and  to  turn  over  the  city  to  indis- 
criminate pillage,  rape  and  slaughter.     At  the  same  time  a  plot 


Treatment  of  Prisoners  During  the  War.  141 

was  discovered  among  the  prisoners  to  co-operate  in  this  scheme, 
and  a  large  number  of  knives  and  slung-shot  (made  by  putting 
stones  into  woolen  stockings)  were  detected  in  places  of  concealment 
about  their  quarters.  To  defeat  a  plan  so  diabolical,  assuredly  the 
sternest  means  were  justified.  If  it  would  have  been  right  to  jDutto 
death  any  one  prisoner  attempting  to  escape  under  such  circum- 
stances, it  seems  logically  certain  that  it  would  have  been  equally 
right  to  put  to  death  any  number  making  such  attempt.  But  in 
truth  the  means  adopted  were  those  of  humanity  and  prevention, 
rather  than  of  execution.  The  Confederate  authorities  felt  able  to 
meet  and  repulse  Dahlgren  and  his  raiders,  if  they  could  prevent 
the  escape  of  the  prisoners. 

The  real  object  was  to  save  their  lives  as  well  as  those  of  our  citi- 
zens. The  guard  force  at  the  prisons  Avas  small,  and  all  the  local 
troops  in  and  around  Richmond  were  needed  to  meet  the  threatened 
attack.  Had  the  prisoners  escaped,  the  women  and  children  of 
the  city,  as  well  as  their  homes,  would  have  been  at  the  merc}^  of 
five  thousand  outlaws.  Humanity  required  that  the  most  summary 
measures  should  be  used  to  deter  them  from  any  attempt  at  escape. 

A  mine  was  prepared  under  the  Libby  Prison;  a  sufficient  quan- 
tity of  gunpowder  was  put  into  it,  and  pains  were  taken  to  inform 
the  prisoners  that  any  attempt  at  escape  made  by  them  would  be 
effectually  defeated.  The  plan  succeeded  perfectly.  The  prisoners 
were  awed  and  kept  quiet.  Dahlgren  and  his  party  were  defeated 
and  scattered.  The  danger  passed  away,  and  in  a  few  weeks  the 
gunpowder  was  removed.  Such  are  the  facts.  Your  committee  do 
not  hesitate  to  make  them  known,  feeling  assured  that  the  con- 
science of  the  enlightened  world  and  the  great  law  of  self-preserva- 
tion justify  all  that  was  done  by  our  country  and  her  officers. 

CHARGE   OF   INTENTIONAL   STARVATION   AND   CRUELTY. 

We  now  proceed  to  notice,  under  one  head,  the  last  and  gravest 
charge  made  in  these  publications.  They  assert  that  the  Northern 
prisoners  in  the  hands  of  the  Confederate  authorities  have  been 
starved,  frozen,  inhumanly  punished,  often  confined  in  foul  and 
loathsome  quarters,  deprived  of  fresh  air  and  exercise,  and  neglected 
and  maltreated  in  sickness — and  that  all  this  was  done  upon  a  de- 
liberate, wilful  and  long  conceived  plan  of  the  Confederate  Govern- 
ment and  officers,  for  the  purpose  of  destro3dng  the  lives  of  these 
prisoners,  or  of  rendering  them  forever  incapable  of  military  service. 
This  charge  accuses  the  Southern  Government  of  a  crime  so  horrible 
and  unnatural,  that  it  could  never  have  been  made  except  by  those 
ready  to  blacken  with  slander  men  whom  they  have  long  injured 
and  hated.  Your  committee  feel  bound  to  reply  to  it  calmly  but 
emphatically.  They  pronounce  it  false  in  fact  and  in  design ;  false 
in  the  basis  on  which  it  assumes  to  rest,  and  false  in  its  estimate  of 
the  motives  which  have  controlled  the  Southern  authorities. 


142  Southern  Historical  Society  Papers. 


HUMANE   POLICY   OF   THE    CO.XFEDERATE   GOVERNMENT. 

At  an  early  period  in  the  present  contest  the  Confederate  Govern- 
ment recognized  their  obhgation  to  treat  prisoners  of  Avar  with 
humanity  and  consideration.  Before  any  laws  were  passed  on  the 
subject,  the  Executive  Department  provided  such  prisoners  as  fell 
into  their  hands  with  proper  quarters  and  barracks  to  shelter  them, 
and  with  rations  the  same  in  quantity  and  quality  as  those  furnished 
to  the  Confederate  soldiers  who  guarded  these  prisoners.  They 
also  showed  an  earnest  wish  to  mitigate  the  sad  condition  of  prison- 
ers of  war,  by  a  system  of  fair  and  prompt  exchange — and  the 
Confederate  Congress  co-operated  in  these  humane  views.  By  their 
act,  approved  on  the  21st  day  of  May,  1861,  they  provided  that  "all 
prisoners  of  war  taken,  whether  on  land  or  at  sea,  during  the  pend- 
ing hostilities  with  the  United  States,  shall  be  transferred  by  the 
captors  from  time  to  time,  and  as  often  as  convenient,  to  the  De- 
partment of  ^Var ;  and  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Secretary  of 
War,  with  the  a]3proval  of  the  President,  to  issue  such  instructions 
to  the  Quartermaster-General  and  his  subordinates  as  shall  jirovide 
for  the  safe  custod}^  and  sustenance  of  prisoners  of  war;  and  the 
rations  furnished  prisoners  of  ivar  shall  be  the  same  in  quantity  and 
quality  as  those  furnished  to  enlisted  men  in  the  army  of  the  Confederacy.''^ 
Such  were  the  declared  jDurpose  and  policy  of  the  Confederate  Gov- 
ernment towards  prisoners  of  war — and  amid  all  the  privations  and 
losses  to  which  their  enemies  have  subjected  them,  they  have  sought 
to  carry  them  into  eft'ect. 

RATIONS  AND  GENERAL  TREATMENT. 

Our  investigations  for  this  preliminary  report  have  been  confined 
chiefly  to  the  rations  and  treatment  of  the  prisoners  of  war  at  the 
Libby  and  other  prisons  in  Richmond  and  on  Belle  Isle.  This  we 
have  done,  because  the  publications  to  which  we  have  alluded  refer 
chiefly  to  them,  and  because  the  "Report  No.  67"  of  the  Northern 
Congress  plainly  intimates  the  belief  that  the  treatment  in  and 
around  Richmond  was  worse  than  it  was  farther  South.  That  re- 
port sa3^s:  "It  will  be  observed  from  the  testimony,  that  all  the 
witnesses  who  testify  upon  that  point  state  that  the  treatment  they 
received  while  confined  at  Columbia,  South  Carolina,  Dalton, 
Georgia,  and  other  places,  teas  far  more  humane  than  that  they  re- 
ceived at  Richmond,  where  the  authorities  of  the  so-called  Con- 
federacy were  congregated."     Report,  p.  3. 

The  evidence  proves  that  the  rations  furnished  to  prisoners  of 
war,  in  Richmond  and  on  Belle  Isle,  have  been  never  less  than  those 
furnished  to  the  Confederate  soldiers  who  guarded  them,  and  have 
at  some  seasons  been  larger  in  quantity  and  better  in  quality  than 
those  furnished  to  Confederate  troops  in  the  field.  This  has  been, 
because  until  February,  1864,  tlie  Quartermaster's  Department  fur- 
nished the  prisoners,  and  often  had  provisions  or  funds  when  the 


Tj^eaiment  of  Prisoners  During  the  War.  143 

Commissary  Department  was  not  so  well  provided.  Once,  and 
only  once,  for  a  few  weeks  the  prisoners  were  without  meat;  but  a 
larger  quantity  of  bread  and  vegetable  food  was  in  consequence 
supplied  to  them.  How  often  the  gallant  men  composing  the  Con- 
federate army  have  been  without  meat,  for  even  longer  intervals, 
your  committee  do  not  deem  it  necessary  to  say.  Not  less  than 
sixteen  ounces  of  bread  and  four  ounces  of  bacon,  or  six  ounces  of 
beef,  together  with  beans  and  soup,  have  been  furnished  per  day 
to  the  prisoners.  During  most  of  the  time  the  quantity  of  meat 
furnished  to  them  has  been  greater  than  these  amounts ;  and  even 
in  times  of  the.  greatest  scarcity  they  have  received  as  much  as  the 
Southern  soldiers  who  guarded  them.  The  scarcity  of  meats  and 
of  bread  stuffs  in  the  South,  in  certain  places,  has  been  the  result 
of  the  savage  policy  of  our  enemies  in  burning  barns  filled  with 
wheat  or  corn,  destroying  agricultural  implements,  and  driving  off 
or  wantonly  butchering  hogs  and  cattle.  Yet  amid  all  these  priva- 
tions we  have  given  to  their  prisoners  the  rations  above  mentioned. 
It  is  well  known  that  this  quantity  of  food  is  sufficient  to  keep  in 
health  a  man  who  does  not  labor  hard.  All  the  learned  disquisi- 
tions of  Dr.  Ellerslie  Wallace  on  the  subject  of  starvation  might 
have  been  spared,  for  they  are  all  founded  on  a  false  basis.  It  will 
be  observed  that  few  (if  any)  of  the  witnesses  examined  by  the 
"Sanitary  Commission"  speak  with  any  accuracy  of  the  quantity 
(in  weight)  of  the  food  actually  furnished  to  them.  Their  state- 
ments are  merely  conjectural  and  comparative,  and  cannot  weigh 
against  the  positive  testimony  of  those  who  superintended  the  de- 
livery of  large  quantities  of  food,  cooked  and  distributed  according 
to  a  fixed  ratio,  for  the  number  of  men  to  be  fed. 

FALSEHOODS   PUBLISHED   AS    TO    PRISONERS    FREEZING   ON    BELLE   ISLE. 

The  statements  of  the  "Sanitary  Commission,"  as  to  prisoners 
freezing  to  death  on  Belle  Isle,  are  absurdly  false.  According  to 
that  statement,  it  was  common,  during  a  cold  spell  in  winter,  to 
see  several  prisoners  frozen  to  death  every  morning  in  the  places 
in  which  they  had  slept.  This  picture,  if  correct,  might  well  excite 
our  horror;  but  unhappily  for  its  sensational  power,  it  is  but  a 
clumsy  daub,  founded  on  the  fancy  of  the  painter.  The  facts  are^ 
that  tents  were  furnished  sufficient  to  shelter  all  the  prisoners;  that 
the  Confederate  commandant  and  soldiers  on  the  Island  were 
lodged  in  similar  tents;  that  a  fire  was  furnished  in  each  of  them; 
that  the  prisoners  fared  as  well  as  their  guards;  and  that  only  one 
of  them  was  ever  frozen  to  death,  and  he  was  frozen  by  the  cruelty  of 
his  oivn  fellotv-prisoners,  who  thrust  him  out  of  the  tent  in  a  freezing 
night  because  he  was  infested  with  vermin.  The  proof  as  to  the 
healthiness  of  the  prisoners  on  Belle  Isle,  and  the  small  amount  of 
mortality,  is  remarkable,  and  presents  a  fit  comment  on  the  lugu- 
brious pictures  drawn  by  the  "Sanitary  Commission,"  either  from 
their  own  fancies  or  from  the  fictions  put  forth  by  their  false  wit- 
nesses.    Lieutenant  Bossieux  proves  that  from  the  establishment 


144  Southern  Historical  Society  Papas. 

of  the  prison  camp  on  Belle  Isle  in  June,  1862,  to  the  10th  of  Feb- 
ruary, 1865,  more  than  twenty  thousand  prisoners  had  been  at 
various  times  there  received,  and  yet  that  the  whole  number  of 
deaths  during  this  time  was  only  one  hundred  and  sixty-four. 
And  this  is  confirmed  by  the  Federal  Colonel  Sanderson,  who 
states  that  the  average  number  of  deaths  per  month  on  Belle  Isle 
w\as  "from  two  to  five,  more  frequently  the  lesser  number."  The 
sick  were  promjjtly  removed  from  the  Island  to  the  hospitals  in 
the  city. 

CHARACTER   OF   THE   NORTHERN   WITNESSES. 

Doubtless  the  "Sanitary  Commission"  have  been  to  some  extent 
led  astray  by  their  own  witnesses,  whose  character  has  been  por- 
trayed by  General  Neal  Dow,  and  also  by  the  editor  of  the  New 
York  Times,  who,  in  his  issue  of  Januar}'  6th,  1865,  describes  the 
material  for  recruiting  the  Federal  armies  as  "  wretched  vagabonds, 
of  depraved  morals,  decrepit  in  body,  without  courage,  self-respect 
or  conscience.     They  are  dirt}'^,  disorderly,  thievish  and  incapable." 

CRUELTY   TO   CONFEDERATE   PRISONERS   AT   THE   NORTH, 

In  reviewing  the  charges  of  cruelty,  harshness  and  starvation  to 
prisoners,  made  by  the  North,  your  committee  have  taken  testi- 
mony as  to  the  treatment  of  our  own  officers  and  soldiers  in  the 
hands  of  the  enemy.     It  gives  us  no  pleasure  to  be  compelled  to 
speak  of  suffering  inflicted  upon  our  gallant  men ;  but  the  self- 
laudatory  style  in  which  the  "Sanitary  Commission"  have  spoken 
of  their  prisons,  makes  it  proper  that  the  truth  should  be  presented. 
Your  committee  gladl}^  acknowledge  that  in  many  cases  our  pri- 
soners experienced  kind  and  considerate  treatment;  but  we  are 
equally  assured  that  in  nearl}'  all  the  prison  stations  of  the  North — 
at  Point  Lookout,  Fort  McHenry,  Fort  Delaware,  Johnson's  Island, 
Elmira,  Camp  Chase,  Camp  Douglas,  Alton,  Camp  Morton,  the  Ohio 
Penitentiary,  and  the  prisons  of  St.  Louis,  Missouri — our  men  have 
suffered  from  insufficient  food,  and  have  been  subjected  to  igno- 
minious, cruel  and  barbarous  practices,  of  which  there  is  no  parallel 
in  anytliing  that  has  occurred  in  the  South.     The  witnesses  who 
were  at  Point  Lookout,  Fort  Delaware,  Camp  Morton  and  Camp 
Douglas  testify  that  they  have  often  seen  our  men  picking  up  the 
scraps  and  refuse  thrown  out  from  the  kitchens,  with  which  to  ap- 
pease their  hunger.     Dr.  Herrington  proves  that  at  Fort  Delaware 
unwholesome  bread  and  water  produced  diarrhoni  in  numberless 
cases  among  our  prisoners,  and  that  "their  sufferings  were  greatly 
aggravated  by  the  regulation  of  the  camp  which  forbade  more  than 
twenty  men  at  a  time  at  night  to  go  to  the  sinks.  I  have  seen  as  many 
as  five  hundred  men  in  a  row  waiting  their  time.     The  consequence 
was  that  they  were  obliged  to  use  the  places  where  they  were. 
This  produced  great  want  of  cleanliness,  and  aggravated  the  disease." 
Our  men  were  compelled  to  labor  in  unloading  Federal  vessels  and 
in  putting  up  buildings  for  Federal  officers,  and  if  they  refused, 
were  driven  to  the  work  with  clubs." 


Treatment  of  Prisoners  During  the  War.  145 

The  treatment  of  Brigadier-General  J.  H.  Morgan  and  his  officer, 
was  brnta    and  ignominious  in  the  extreme.      It  wHlTe  found 
stated  in  the  depositions  of  Captain  M.  D.  Lo^an  Lieutennnt  W  P 
Crow,  Lieutenant-Colonel  James  B.  McCrearf  !and  Can  ;  n   B '  T 
Tracy,  that  they  were  put  in  the  Ohio  PenSia?y  and'  ompdled 
to  submit  tothe  treatment  of  felons.     Their  beards  werHhaved 
and  their  hair  was  cut  close  to  the  head.     They  were  confined  in 
convicts'  cells  and  forbidden  to  speak  to  each  other      For  at  em^ts 
to  escape,  and  for  other  offences  of  a  very  lio-ht  charactei  tW  wprf 
subjected  to  the  horrible  punishment  o^f  the  drgeo^T'    l/m  d 
winter    with  the  atmosphere  many  degrees  below  zero    witCuf 
blanket  or  overcoat,  they  were  confined^n  a  cell  wthout  fire  or 
K'unt-?  vf^^'^  '"^'^  poisonous  air  to  breathe,  and Lre  they  we?e 
kept  until  life  was  nearly  extinct.     Their  cond  tion  on  comiL  out 
was  so  deplorable  as  to  draw  tears  from  their  comrades     The  blood 
was  oozing  from  their  hands  and  faces.     The  treatment  in  the  St 

teS- TwroV^"'^  A^  ^n"'^^^°^^-  ^^P^^i"  Williarn  Sebring 
testifies.  Iwo  of  us— A.  C.  Grimes  and  myself— were  carried  nnf 
into  the  open  air  in  the  prison  yard,  on  the  25th  of  DecemberlseS 
and  handcuffed  to  a  post.  Here  we  were  kept  all  nivTrin  sleet 
snow  and  cold.  We  were  relieved  in  the  day  tim?  but  aS 
brought  to  the  post  and  handcuffed  to  it  in  the  eveS  and  K 
we  were  kept  all  night  until  the  2d  of  January,  1864T'wabad?v 
frost-bitten  and  my  health  was  much  impaired.     This  cruel  inflic^ 

in  §tTo.^s''  ^l  -^^f  Captain  Byrnes^  Commandanr<^^kLons 
m  fet.  Louis.     He  was  barbarous  and  insulting  to  the  last  degree  '' 

OUR   PRISONERS   PUT   INTO   CAMPS   INFECTED   WITH   SMALL-POX. 

But  even  a  greater  inhumanity  than  any  we  have  mentioned  w.« 
perpetrated  upon  our  prisoners  at  Camp  Douglas  IndCWClmse 
nelT  S°  H  ^^  f'  ''^T'i?  '^  T^^°^^^^«  P-  Holloway  John^^ Fen: 

camps,''  where  small-pox  was  TeTil^r^T4:^^^^^^^^^^^ 
this  loathsome  disease,  and  that  as  many  as  40  new  c  fes  oftpn  ^t 
peared  daily  among  them.     Even  the  Federal  nfflZv      1!  fP," 

them  to  the  camp  protested  ag^i"  st  tM^tlS  atr^^^^^^^^^ 
Wnt?"-,  ^^  ''''?  '"^^  contracted  the  disease  werTiem^'efto  . 
hospital  about  a  mile  off,  but  the  plague  was  ahSv  Wrn^"  ^ 

?Hvph'  "T^i  '"^''^  ^t'^^  «i^k  '-^"^  wounded,  have  beenTruehv  de 


146  Southern  Historical  Society  Papers. 

Many  of  the  soldiers  of  General  Hood's  army  were  frost-bitten 
by  beinc^  kept  day  and  night  in  an  exposed  condition  before  they 
were  pnt  into  Camp  Douglas.  Their  sufferings  are  truthfully 
depictJJd  in  the  evidence.  At  Alton  and  Camp  Morton  the  same 
inhuman  practice  of  putting  our  prisoners  into  camps  infected  by 
small-pox  prevailed.  It  was  equivalent  to  murdering  many  ot 
them  by  the  torture  of  a  contagious  disease.  The  insufficient  rations 
at  Camp  Morton  forced  our  men  to  appease  their  hunger  by  pound- 
ino-  up  and  boiling  bones,  picking  up  scraps  of  meat  and  cabbage 
from  the  hospital  slop  tubs,  and  even  eating  rats  and  dogs,  ihe 
depositions  of  WiUiain  Ayres  and  J.  Chambers  Brent  prove  these 
privations. 

BARBAROUS   PUNISHMENTS. 

The  punishments  often  inflicted  on  our  men  for  slight  offences 
have  been  shameful  and  barbarous.  They  have  been  compelled  to 
ride  a  plank  only  four  inches  wide,  called  "Morgan's  horse;  _  to  sit 
down  with  their  naked  bodies  in  the  snow  for  ten  or  fifteen  minutes, 
and  have  been  subiected  to  the  ignominy  of  stripes  from  the  belts 
of  their  guards,  the  pretext  has  been  used  that  many  ot  their 
nets  of  cruelty  have  been  by  way  of  retaliation.  But  no  evidence 
has  been  found  to  prove  such  acts  on  the  part  of  the  Confederate 
authorities  It  is  remarkable  that  m  the  case  of  Colonel  Streight 
and  his  officers,  they  were  subjected  only  to  the  ordinary  confine- 
ment of  prisoners  of  war.  No  special  punishment  was  used  exc^ept 
for  specific  offences;  and  then  the  greatest  infliction  was  to  confine 
Colonel  Streight  for  a  few  weeks  in  a  basement  room  ot  the  Libby 
Prison,  with  a  window,  a  plank  floor,  a  stove,  a  fire,  and  plenty  ot 

J*       ^ 

^We  do  not  deem  it  necessary  to  dwell  further  on  these  subjex^ts. 
Enough  has  been  proved  to  sliow  that  great  privations  and  sufler- 
ings  Imve  been  borne  by  the  prisoners  on  both  sides. 

WHY   HAVE   NOT   PRISONERS   OF   WAR  BEEN   EXCHANGED? 

But  the  question  forces  itself  upon  us  why  have  these  sufferings 
been  so  long  continued?  Why  have  not  the  prisoners  of  war  been 
exchancred,1ind  thus  some  of  the  darkest  pages  of  history  spared  to 
the  world'?  In  the  answer  to  this  question  must  be  found  the  test 
of  responsibility  for  all  the  sufferings,  sickness  and  _  heart-broken 
sorrow  that  have  visited  more  than  eighty  thousand  prisoners  within 
the  nast  two  years.  On  this  question,  your  committee  can  only 
sav  that  the  Confederate  authorties  have  always  desii;ed  a  prompt 
and  fair  exchange  of  prisoners.  Even  before  the  establisliment  of 
a  cartel  they  urged  such  exchange,  but  could  never  effect  it  by 
acrreement,  until'the  large  preponderance  of  prisoners  m  our  hands 
made  it  the  interest  of  the  Federal  authorities  to  consent  to  the 
cartel  of  July  22d,  1863.  The  ninth  article  of  that  agreement  ex- 
nresslv  provided  that  in  case  any  misunderstanding  should  arise, 
it  should  not  interrupt  the  release  of  prisoners  on  parole,  but  should  be 


Treatment  of  Frisoners  During  the  War.  147 

made  the  subject  of  friendly  explanation.  Soon  after  this  cartel 
was  established,  the  policy  of  the  enemy  in  seducing  negro  slaves 
from  their  masters,  arming  them  and  putting  white  officers  over 
them  to  lead  them  against  us,  gave  rise  to  a  few  cases  in  which 
questions  of  crime  under  the  internal  laws  of  the  Southern  States 
appeared.  Whether  men  who  encouraged  insurrection  and  murder 
could  be  held  entitled  to  the  privileges  of  prisoners  of  war  under 
the  cartel,  was  a  grave  question.  But  these  cases  were  few  in  num- 
ber, and  ought  never  to  have  interrupted  the  general  exchange. 
We  were  always  ready  and  anxious  to  carry  out  the  cartel  in  its 
true  meaning,  and  it  is  certain  that  the  ninth  article  required  that 
the  prisoners  on  both  sides  should  be  released,  and  that  the  few  cases 
as  to  which  misunderstanding  occurred  should  be  left  for  final  de- 
cision. Doubtless  if  the  preponderance  of  prisoners  had  continued 
with  us,  exchanges  would  have  continued.  But  the  fortunes  of  war 
threw  the  larger  number  into  the  hands  of  our  enemies.  Then 
they  refused  further  exchanges — and  for  twenty-two  months  this 
policy  has  continued.  Our  Commissioner  of  Exchange  has  made 
constant  efforts  to  renew  them.  In  August,  1864,  he  consented  to  a 
proposition,  which  had  been  repeatedly  made,  to  exchange  officer 
for  officer  and  man  for  man,  leaving  the  surplus  in  captivity. 
Though  this  was  a  departure  from  the  cartel,  our  anxiety  for  the 
exchange  induced  us  to  consent.  Yet,  the  Federal  authorities  re- 
pudiated their  previous  offer,  and  refused  even  this  partial  compli- 
ance with  the  cartel.  Secretary  Stanton,  who  has  unjustly  charged 
the  Confederate  authorities  with  inhumanity,  is  open  to  the  charge 
of  having  done  all  in  his  power  to  prevent  a  fair  exchange,  and 
thus  to  prolong  the  sufferings  of  which  he  speaks;  and  very  re- 
cently, in  a  letter  over  his  signature,  Benjamin  F.  Butler  has  declared 
that  in  April,  1864,  the  Federal  Lieutenant-General  Grant  forbade 
him  "to  deliver  to  the  Rebels  a  single  able-bodied  man;"  and 
moreover,  General  Butler  acknowledges  that  in  answer  to  Colonel 
Quid's  letter  consenting  to  the  exchange,  officer  for  officer  and  man 
for  man,  he  wrote  a  reply,  "not  diplomatically  but  obtrusively  and 
demonstratively,  not  for  the  purpose  of  furthering  exchange  of  prisoners, 
but  for  the  purpose  of  preventing  and  stopping  the  exchange,  and 
furnishing  a  ground  on  which  we  could  fairly  stanciy 

These  facts  abundantly  show  that  the  responsibility  of  refusing 
to  exchange  prisoners  of  war  rests  with  the  Government  of  the 
.  United  States,  and  the  people  who  have  sustained  that  Government; 
and  every  sigh  of  captivity,  every  groan  of  suffering,  every  heart 
broken  by  hope  deferred  among  these  eighty  thousand  prisoners, 
will  accuse  them  in  the  judgment  of  the  just. 

With  regard  to  the  prison  stations  at  Andersonville,  Salisbury 
and  places  south  of  Richmond,  your  committee  have  not  made  ex- 
tended examination,  for  reasons  which  have  already  been  stated. 
We  are  satisfied  that  privation,  suffering  and  mortality,  to  an  extent 
much  to  be  regretted,  did  prevail  among  the  prisoners  there,  but 
they  were  not  the  result  of  neglect,  still  less  of  design  on  the  part 


148  Southern  Historical  Society  Papers. 

of  the  Confederate  Government.  Haste  in  preparation ;  crowded 
quarters,  prepared  only  for  a  smaller  number;  want  of  transporta- 
tion and  scarcity  of  food,  have  all  resulted  from  the  pressure  of  the 
war,  and  the  barbarous  manner  in  which  it  has  been  conducted  by 
our  enemies.  Upon  these  subjects  your  committee  propose  to  take 
further  evidence,  and  to  report  more  fully  hereafter. 

But  even  now  enough  is  known  to  vindicate  the  South,  and  to 
furnish  an  overwhelming  answer  to  all  complaints  on  the  part  of 
the  United  States  Government  or  people,  that  their  prisoners  were 
stinted  in  food  or  supplies.  Their  own  savage  warfare  has  wrought 
all  the  evil.  They  have  blockaded  our  ports ;  have  excluded  from 
us  food,  clothing  and  medicines ;  have  even  declared  medicines 
contraband  of  war,  and  have  repeatedly  destroyed  the  contents  of 
drug  stores  and  the  supplies  of  private  physicians  in  the  country ; 
have  ravaged  our  country,  burned  our  houses,  and  destroyed  grow- 
ing crops  and  farming  implements.  One  of  their  officers  (General 
Sheridan)  has  boasted,  in  his  official  report,  that  in  the  Shenandoah 
Valley  alone  he  burned  two  thousand  barns  filled  with  wheat  and 
corn;  that  he  burned  all  the  mills  in  the  Avhole  tract  of  country; 
destroyed  all  the  factories  of  cloth;  and  killed  or  drove  off  every 
animal,  even  to  the  poultry,  that  could  contribute  to  human 
sustenance.  These  desolations  have  been  repeated  again  and  again 
in  different  parts  of  the  South.  Thousand-s  of  our  families  have 
been  driven  from  their  homes  as  helpless  and  destitute  refugees. 
Our  enemies  have  destroyed  the  railroads  and  other  means  of  trans- 
portation by  which  food  could  be  supplied  from  abundant  districts 
to  those  without  it.  While  thus  desolating  our  country,  in  viola- 
tion of  the  usages  of  civilized  warfare,  they  have  refused  to  exchange 
prisoners;  have  forced  us  to  keep  fifty  thousand  of  their  men  in 
captivity,  and  yet  have  attempted  to  attribute  to  us  the  sufferings 
and  privations  caused  by  their  own  acts.  We  cannot  doubt  that, 
in  the  view  of  civilization,  we  shall  stand  acquitted,  Avhile  they 
must  be  condemned. 

In  concluding  this  preliminary  report,  we  will  notice  the  strange 
perversity  of  interpretation  which  has  induced  the  "Sanitary  Com- 
mission" to  affix  as  a  motto  to  their  pamphlet  the  words  of  the 
compassionate  Redeemer  of  mankind: 

"For  I  was  anhungered  and  ye  gave  me  no  meat;  I  was  thirsty 
and  ye  gave  me  no  drink ;  I  was  a  stranger  and  ye  took  me  not 
in ;  naked  and  ye  clothed  me  not;  sick  and  in  prison  and  ye  visited 
me  not." 

We  have  5''et  to  learn  on  what  principle  the  Federal  mercenaries, 
sent  with  arms  in  their  hands  to  destroy  the  lives  of  our  people, 
to  waste  our  land,  burn  our  houses  and  barns,  and  drive  us  from 
our  homes,  can  be  regarded  by  us  as  the  followers  of  the  meek  and 
lowly  Redeemer,  so  as  to  claim  the  benefit  of  his  words.  Yet  even 
these  mercenaries,  when  taken  captive  by  us,  have  been  treated 
with  proper  humanity.  The  cruelties  inflicted  on  our  prisoners  at 
the  North  may  well  justify  us  in  applying  to  the  "Sanitary  Com- 


Treatment  of  Prisoners  During  the  War.  149 

mission"  the  stern  words  of  the  Divine  Teacher — "Thou  hypocrite, 
first  cast  out  the  beam  out  of  thine  own  eye,  and  then  shalt  thou 
see  clearly  to  cast  out  the  moat  out  of  thy  brother's  eye." 

We  believe  that  there  are  many  thousands  of  just,  honorable  and 
humane  people  in  the  United  States,  upon  whom  this  subject,  thus 
presented,  will  not  be  lost;  that  they  will  do  all  they  can  to  miti- 
gate the  horrors  of  war;  to  complete  the  exchange  of  prisoners, 
now  happily  in  progress,  and  to  prevent  the  recurrence  of  such 
Bufferings  as  have  been  narrated.  And  we  repeat  the  words  of  the 
Confederate  Congress,  in  their  manifesto  of  the  14th  of  June,  1864: 

"We  commit  our  cause  to  the  enlighted  judgment  of  the  world, 
to  the  sober  reflections  of  our  adversaries  themselves,  and  to  the 
Bolemn  and  righteous  arbitrament  of  heaven." 

Rev.  William  Brown,  D.  D.,  of  the  Central  Presbyterian,  writes  as 
follows  in  his  paper: 

"So  far  as  the  intentions  and  orders  of  the  Confederate  Govern- 
ment were  concerned,  no  blame  can  rest  upon  it.  The  places  se- 
lected were  healthy,  and  the  food  and  medicines  ordered  were  the 
same  as  those  assigned  to  our  own  soldiers  and  hospitals.  .  The  fate 
of  prisoners,  especially  if  the  number  be  large,  is  generally  and  una- 
voidably a  hard  one.  When  the  intentions  of  the  Government 
may  be  right,  the  neglect  or  tyranny  of  subordinates  may  render 
the  condition  of  the  captives  miserable.  We  can  testify  from  per- 
sonal observation,  and  from  an  intimate  acquaintance  with  the 
most  unimpeachable  testimony,  that  the  treatment  of  our  soldiers 
in  prison  was  often  horrible  and  brutal  in  the  extreme.  A  vast 
mass  of  evidence  had  been  obtained  by  a  committee  appointed  by 
the  Confederate  Senate.  At  the  head  of  this  committee  was  that 
pure  minded,  eminent  Christian  gentleman.  Judge  J.  W.  C.  Wat- 
son, of  Holly  Springs,  Mississippi.  The  volume  of  testimony 
gathered  from  a  large  number  of  returned  prisoners,  men  of  un- 
doubted veracity,  we  were  invited,  by  the  kindness  of  Judge  Wat- 
son, to  inspect.  It  was  in  the  hands  of  the  printer  in  Richmond 
when  the  memorable  fire  occured,  at  the  time  of  its  evacuation  in 
April,  1865,  and  was  unfortunately  consumed  in  the  great  confla- 
gration. But  Camp  Douglas,  Rock  Island,  Johnson's  Island,  El- 
mira,  Fort  Delaware,  and  other  Federal  prisons,  could  they  find  a 
tongue,  would  tell  a  tale  of  horror  that  should  forever  silence  all 
clamor  about  ^Libby  Prison^  and  ^ Belle  Isle^  and  ^ Andersonville? 
At  Fort  Delaware  the  misrule  and  suffering  were  probable  less  than 
at  any  other ;  yet  whoever  wishes  to  get  a  glimpse  at  the  Federal 
prisons  in  their  best  estate,  and  under  the  control  of  'the  best 
Government  the  world  ever  saw,'  let  him  consult  '■Bonds  of  the 
United  States  Government,''^  a  volume  published  last  year  by  the 
Rev.  I.  W.  K.  Handy,  D.  D.,  a  member  of  the  Synod  of  Virginia, 
now  residing  near  Staunton ;  or  let  him  inquire  of  the  Rev.  T.  D. 
Witherspoon,  D.  D.,  another  member  of  the  same  Synod,  and  now 


150  Southern  Historical  Society  Papers. 

residing  in  Petersburg.  They  can  both  say,  as  victims,  '  We  speak 
concerning  that  which  we  know,  and  testify  of  that  we  have  seen.' 

"  It  may  be — we  neither  affirm  here  nor  deny — that  Wirz  deserved 
his  unhappy  fate  for  his  treatment  of  prisonei-s  at  Andersonville ; 
he  was  a  subordinate  officer,  and  may  have  abused  his  power.  But 
whoever  shall  look  into  that  whole  dreadful  history  of  the  treat- 
ment of  prisoners  during  the  war,  even  in  the  light  of  such  imper- 
fect evidence  as  it  has  been  possible  to  obtain,  will  have  to  conclude 
that  the  operation  of  hanging  ought  to  have  been  extended  a  great 
deal  further,  and  not  to  have  stopped  till  it  reached  certain  very 
high  quarters.  The  refusal  of  the  military  court  to  allow  Judge 
Ould  to  appear  as  a  witness  for  Wirz  is  to  be  noted  as  a  most  signifi- 
cant fact.  Read  his  remarkable  statement.  He  went  on  to  Wash- 
ington city,  summoned  by  the  court  to  give  testimony  in  behalf  of 
this  man  charged  with  a  high  crime,  which  j^ut  his  life  in  peril. 
He  was  fully  prepared  to  bring  before  that  court  certain  incontes- 
tible  facts  which  it  was  afraid  to  allow  the  public  to  hear.  If  they 
should  only  get  before  the  world  in  such  a  conspicuous  light,  then 
would  somebody — the  coming  men — have  to  say,  '  Farewell,  a  long 
farewell,  to  all  my  future  greatness!'  And  so  we  have  the  extra- 
ordinary fact,  here  asserted  by  Judge  Ould  (and  when  did  criminal 
jurisprudence,  even  in  the  worst  acts  of  Jeffries,  surpass  its  infamy?), 
that  a  witness,  of  the  highest  character,  summoned  by  the  defence 
was  debarred  from  giving  testimony,  and  was  dismissed  by  the 
prosecutor! 

"  The  reports  of  the  Federal  authorities  show  that  a  larger  number 
of  Confederates  died  in  Northern  than  of  Federal  prisoners  in  South- 
ern prisons  or  stockades.  The  whole  number  of  Federal  prisoners 
held  in  Confederate  prisons  was,  from  first  to  last,  in  round  numbers, 
270,000;  while  the  whole  number  of  Confederates  held  by  the  Fed- 
erals was,  in  round  numbers,  220,000.  But,  with  50,000  more 
prisoners  held  by  the  Confederates,  the  deaths  were  actually  about 
4,000  less.  The  number  of  Federal  prisoners  that  died  was  22,576; 
of  Confederate  prisoners,  26,436. 

"Now  let  the  voice  of  truth  tell  where  was  the  greater  neglect, 
cruelty,  inhumanity.  And  more  than  this:  upon  which  side  rests 
the  tremendous  responsibility  of  the  suffering  and  distress  from  the 
long  imprisonment  of  so  many  thousands  of  soldiers?  Do  not  the 
facts  show,  beyond  a  question,  that  it  rests  solely  upon  tlie  authori- 
ties at  Washington?  The  source  of  the  documents  referred  to  is 
of  the  most  responsible  character.  The  standing  of  Judge  Ould 
and  Alexander  H.  Stevens  before  the  world  is  such  as  to  leave  no 
excuse  for  disregarding  them.  Besides  this,  they  make  a  straight- 
forward issue ;  they  quote  or  point  to  their  authorities  for  what 
they  say,  and  calmly  challenge  contradiction.  The  documents 
were,  after  the  surrender  of  General  Lee,  delivered  over  to  the 
Federal  Government,  and  are  now  on  file  in  the  city  of  Washing- 
ton. If  the  letters  quoted  or  referred  to  by  Judge  Ould  are  not 
official  or  genuine,  their  falsity  can  easily  be  shown  from  the  origi- 


Treatment  of  Prisoners  During  the  War.  151 

nal  papers.     If  any  of  his  or  Mr.  Stephens'  statements  are  untrue, 
the  means  of  refutation  are  at  hand;  let  them  be  produced." 

But  we  will  now  introduce  the 

TESTIMONY    OF    THE    ASSISTANT    SECRETARY   OF   WAR    OF    THE    UNITED 
STATES,  MR.  CHARLES   A.  DANA. 

In  an  editorial  in  his  paper,  the  New  York  Sun,  Mr.  Dana,  after 
speaking  of  the  bitterness  of  feeling  towards  Mr.  Davis  at  the  North, 
thus  comments  on  his  recent  letter  to  Mr.  Lyons : 

This  letter  shows  clearly,  we  think,  that  the  Confederate  authori- 
ties, and  especially  Mr.  Davis,  ought  not  to  be  held  responsible  for 
the  terrible  privations,  sufferings  and  injuries  which  our  men  had 
to  endure  while  they  were  kept  in  the  Confederate  military  prisons. 
The  fact  is  unquestionable  that  while  the  Confederates  desired  to 
exchange  prisoners,  to  send  our  men  home  and  to  get  back  their 
own,  General  Grant  steadily  and  strenuously  resisted  such  an  ex- 
change. While,  in  his  opinion,  the  prisoners  in  our  hands  were 
well  fed,  and  were  in  better  condition  than  when  they  were  cap- 
tured, our  prisoners  in  the  South  were  ill  fed,  and  would  be  restored 
to  us  too  much  exhaused  by  famine  and  disease  to  form  a  fair  set- 
off against  the  comparative  vigorous  men  who  would  be  given  in 
exchange.  "It  is  hard  on  our  men  held  in  Southern  prisons,"  said 
Grant  in  an  official  communication,  "not  to  exchange  them;  but  it 
is  humane  to  those  left  in  the  ranks  to  fight  our  battles.  If  we 
commence  a  system  of  exchanges  which  liberates  all  prisoners 
taken,  we  will  have  to  fight  on  until  the  whole  South  is  exter- 
minated. If  we  hold  those  caught,  they  count  for  no  more  than 
dead  men."  "  I  did  not,"  he  said  on  another  occasion,  "  deem  it  justi- 
fiable or  just  to  reinforce  the  enemy;  and  an  immediate  resumption 
of  exchanges  would  have  had  that  effect  without  any  corresponding 
benefit." 

This  evidence  must  be  taken  as  conclusive.  It  proves  that  it  was 
not  the  Confederate  authorities  who  insisted  on  keeping  our  pri- 
soners in  distress,  want  and  disease,  but  the  commander  of  our  own 
armies.  We  do  not  say  that  his  reason  for  this  course  was  not 
valid;  but  it  was  not  Jefferson  Davis,  or  any  subordinate  or  asso- 
ciate of  his,  who  should  now  be  condemned  for  it.  We  were  re- 
Bponsible  ourselves  for  the  continued  detention  of  our  captives  in 
misery,  starvation  and  sickness  in  the  South, 

Moreover,  there  is  no  evidence  whatever  that  it  was  practicable 
for  the  Confederate  authorities  to  feed  our  prisoners  any  better  than 
they  were  fed,  or  to  give  them  better  care  and  attention  than  they 
received.  The  food  was  insufficient;  the  care  and  attention  were  in- 
sufficient, no  doubt;  and  yet  the  condition  of  our  prisoners  was  not 
worse  than  that  of  the  Confederate  soldiers  in  the  field,  except  in 
80  far  as  the  condition  of  those  in  prison  must  of  necessity  be  worse 
than  that  of  men  who  are  free  and  active  outside. 


152  SoiUhern  Historical  Society  Papers. 

Again,  in  reference  to  those  cases  of  extreme  suffering  and  dis- 
ease, the  photographs  of  whose  victims  were  so  extensively  circu- 
lated among  us  toward  the  end  of  the  war,  Mr.  Davis  makes,  it 
seems  to  us,  a  good  answer.  Those  very  unfortunate  men  were 
not  taken  from  prisons,  but  from  Confederate  hospitals,  where  they 
had  received  the  same  medical  treatment  as  was  given  to  sick  and 
wounded  Confederate  soldiers.  The  fact  mentioned  by  Mr.  Davis 
that  while  they  had  60,000  more  prisoners  of  ours  than  we  had  of 
theirs,  the  i^umber  of  Confederates  who  died  in  our  prisons  exceeded 
by  6,000  the  whole  number  of  Union  soldiers  who  died  in  Southern 
prisons,  though  not  entirely  conclusive,  since  our  men  were  gene- 
rally better  fed  and  in  better  health  than  theirs,  still  furnishes  a 
strong  support  to  the  position  that,  upon  the  whole,  our  men  were 
not  used  Avith  greater  severity  or  subjected  to  greater  privations 
than  were  inevitable  in  the  nature  of  the  case.  Of  this  charge, 
therefore,  of  cruelty  to  prisoners,  so  often  brought  against  Mr.  Davis, 
and  reiterated  by  Mr.  Blaine  in  his  speech,  we  think  he  must  be 
held  altogether  acquitted. 

There  are  other  things  in  his  letter  not  essential  to  this  question, 
expressions  of  political  opinion  and  intimations  of  views  upon 
larger  subjects,  which  it  is  not  necessary  that  we  should  discuss. 
We  are  bound,  however,  to  say  that  in  elevation  of  spirit,  in  a  sincere 
desire  for  the  total  restoration  of  fraternal  feeling  and  unity  between 
the  once  warring  parts  of  the  Republic,  Mr.  Davis'  letter  is  in- 
finitely superior  and  infinitely  more  creditable  to  him,  both  as  a 
statesman  and  a  man,  than  anything  that  has  recently  fallen  from 
such  antagonists  and  critics  of  his  as  Mr.  Blaine. 

Having  produced  the  testimony  of  reliable  witnesses  who  were  in 
position  to  know  the  truth  in  reference  to  this  whole  question,  we 
proceed  to  give  a  somewhat  more  detailed  statement  of  the  facts  in 
reference  to  it. 

THE   CONFEDERATE   LAW. 

We  have  before  us  the  "  statutes  at  large "  of  the  Confederate 
Congress,  the  general  orders  which  eminated  from  the  War  Depart- 
ment, and  the  orders  of  the  Confederate  Surgeon-General  in  refe- 
rence to  the  management  of  hospitals.  We  have  carefully  examined 
these  volumes  and  papers,  and  are  unable  to  discover  a  syllable  look- 
ing to  or  in  the  least  degree  countenancing  the  maltreatment  of 
prisoners  of  war. 

As  early  as  the  21st  of  May,  1861,  the  Confederate  Congress 
passed  a  law  which  provided  that  "all  prisoners  of  war  taken, 
whether  on  land  or  sea,  during  the  pending  hostilities  with  the 
United  States,  shall  be  transferred  by  the  captors  from  time  to  time, 
and  as  often  as  convenient,  to  the  Department  of  War;  and  it  shall  be 
the  duty  of  the  Secretary  of  War,  with  the  approval  of  the  President, 


Treatment  of  Prisoners  During  the  War.  153 

to  issue  such  instructions  to  the  Quartermaster- General  and  his  subor- 
dinates as  shall  provide  for  the  safe  custody  and  sustenance  of 
prisoners  of  war;  and  the  rations  furnished  prisoners  of  war  shall  he 
the  same  in  quantity  and  quality  as  those  furnished  to  enlisted  men  in  the 
army  of  the  Confederacy.'''' 

This  law  of  the  Confederate  Congress  was  embodied  in  the  orders 
issued  from  the  War  Department,  and  from  the  headquarters  in 
the  field,  and  we  defy  the  production  of  a  single  order  from  any 
Confederate  Department  which  militates  against  this  humane  pro- 
vision. 

PRIVATEERS, 

The  first  question  concerning  prisoners  which  arose  between  the 
two  governments,  was  when  the  privateer  Savannah  was  captured 
on  the  3d  of  June,  1861,  off  Charleston.  In  accordance  with  Mr. 
Lincoln's  proclamation  declaring  privateering  "piracy,"  the  crew  of 
the  Savannah  were  placed  in  irons,  and  sent  to  New  York,  So 
soon  as  the  facts  were  known  in  Richmond,  Mr.  Davis  sent  Mr. 
Lincoln,  by  a  special  messenger  (Colonel  Taylor),  a  communication, 
in  which,  under  date  of  July  6th,  1861,  he  said: 

"Having  learned  that  the  schooner  Savannah,  a  private  armed 
vessel  in  the  service,  and  sailing  under  a  commission  issued  by 
authority  of  the  Confederate  States  of  America,  had  been  captured 
by  one  of  the  vessels  forming  the  blockading  squadron  off  Charles- 
ton harbor,  I  directed  a  proposition  to  be  made  to  the  officer  com- 
manding the  squadron,  for  an  exchange  of  the  officers  and  crew  of 
the  Savannah  for  prisoners  of  war  held  by  this  Government,  '  ac- 
cording to  number  and  rank.'  To  this  proposition,  made  on  the 
19th  ultimo,  Captain  Mercer,  the  officer  in  command  of  the  block- 
ading squadron,  made  answer,  on  the  same  day,  that '  the  prisoners 
(referred  to)  are  not  on  board  of  any  of  the  vessels  under  my  com- 
mand.' 

"  It  now  appears,  by  statements  made,  without  contradiction,  in 
newspapers  published  in  New  York,  that  the  prisoners  above  men- 
tioned were  conveyed  to  that  city,  and  have  been  treated  not  as 
prisoners  of  war,  but  as  criminals ;  that  they  have  been  put  in 
irons,  confined  in  jail,  brought  before  the  courts  of  justice  on 
charges  of  piracy  and  treason;  and  it  is  even  rumored  that  they 
have  been  actually  convicted  of  the  offences  charged,  for  no  other 
reason  than  that  they  bore  arms  in  defence  of  the  rights  of  this 
Government  and  under  the  authority  of  its  commission. 

"  I  could  not,  without  grave  discourtesy,  have  made  the  newspa- 
per statements  above  referred  to  the  subject  of  this  communication, 
if  the  threat  of  treating  as  pirates  the  citizens  of  this  Confederacy, 
armed  for  its  service  on  the  high  seas,  had  not  been  contained  in 


154  Southern  Historical  Society  Papers. 

your  proclamation  of  the  19th  of  April  last;  that  proclamation, 
however,  seems  to  afford  a  sufficient  justification  for  considering 
these  published  statements  as  not  devoid  of  probability. 

"  It  is  the  desire  of  this  Government  so  to  conduct  the  war  now 
existing  as  to  mitigate  its  horrors,  as  far  as  may  be  possible;  and, 
with  this  intent,  its  treatment  of  the  prisoners  captured  by  its 
forces  has  been  marked  by  the  greatest  humanity  and  leniency 
consistent  with  public  obligation.  Some  have  been  permitted  to 
return  home  on  parole,  others  to  remain  at  large,  under  similar 
conditions,  within  this  Confederacy,  and  all  have  been  furnished 
with  rations  for  their  subsistence,  such  as  are  allowed  to  our  own 
troops.  It  is  only  since  the  news  has  been  received  of  the  treat- 
ment of  the  prisoners  taken  on  the  Savannah,  that  I  have  been 
compelled  to  withdraw  these  indulgencies,  and  to  hold  the  prisoners 
taken  by  us  in  strict  confinement. 

"A  just  regard  to  humanity  and  to  the  honor  of  this  Govern- 
ment now  requires  me  to  state  explicitly,  that,  painful  as  will  be 
the  necessity,  this  Government  will  deal  out  to  the  prisoners  held 
by  it  the  same  treatment  and  the  same  fate  as  shall  be  experienced 
by  those  captured  on  the  Savannah  ;  and  if  driven  to  the  terrible 
necessity  of  retaliation,  by  your  execution  of  any  of  the  officers  or 
crew  of  the  Savannah,  that  retaliation  will  .be  extended  so  far  as 
shall  be  requisite  to  secure  the  abandonment  of  a  practice  unknown 
to  the  warfare  of  civilized  man,  and  so  barbarous  as  to  disgrace  the 
nation  which  shall  be  guilty  of  inaugurating  it. 

"  With  this  view,  and  because  it  may  not  have  reached  you,  I 
now  renew  the  proj^osition  made  to  the  commander  of  the  block- 
ading squadron,  to  exchange  for  the  prisoners  taken  on  the  Savan- 
nah an  equal  number  of  those  now  held  by  us,  according  to  rank." 

Colonel  Taylor  was  permitted  to  go  to  Washington,  but  was  re- 
fused an  audience  with  the  President,  and  was  obliged  to  content  him- 
self with  a  verbal  reply  from  General  Scott  that  the  communication 
had  been  delivered  to  Mr.  Lincoln,  and  that  he  would  reply  in 
writing  as  soon  as  possible. 

No  answer  ever  came,  however,  and  the  Confederate  authorities 
were  compelled  to  select  by  lot  from  among  the  Federal  prisoners 
in  their  hands  a  number  to  whom  they  proposed  to  mete  out  the 
same  fate  which  |might  await  the  crew  of  the  Savannah.  But  for- 
tunately Mr.  Lincoln  was  induced,  from  some  cause,  to  recede  from 
his  position — albeit  he  never  deigned  an  answer  of  any  sort  to  Mr. 
Davis'  letter — and  the  horrors  of  retaliation  were  thus  averted. 
Although  not  necessary  to  this  discussion,  it  may  be  well  (in  view 
of  the  flipancy  with  which  Northern  writers  even  now  speak  of 
"pirate  Semmes"),  to  say  that  the  Federal  Government  does  not 
seem  to  have  been  influenced  in  this  matter  by  any  considerations 


Treatment  of  Prisoners  During  the  War.  155 

of  humanity,  but  rather  by  what  occurred  in  the  British  House  of 
Lords,  on  the  16th  of  May,  soon  after  Mr.  Lincoln's  proclamation, 
declaring  the  Confederate  privateers  pirates,  reached  that  country. 
On  this  subject  the  Earl  of  Derby  said : 

"  He  apprehended  that  if  one  thing  was  dearer  than  another,  it  was 
that  privateering  was  not  piracy,  and  that  no  law  could  make  that 
piracy,  as  regarded  the  subjects  of  one  nation,  which  was  not  piracy 
by  the  law  of  nations.  Consequently  the  United  States  must  not  be 
allowed  to  entertain  this  doctrine,  and  to  call  upon  Her  Majesty's 
Government  not  to  interfere.  He  knew  it  was  said  that  the  United 
States  treated  the  Confederate  States  of  the  South  as  mere  rebels, 
and  that  as  rebels  these  expeditions  were  liable  to  all  the  penalties 
of  high  treason.  That  was  not  the  doctrine  of  this  country,  be- 
cause we  have  declared  that  they  are  entitled  to  all  the  rights  of 
belligerents.  The  Northern  States  coidd  not  claim  the  rights  of  bellig- 
erents for  themselves,  and,  on  the  other  hand,  deal  with  other  parties  not 
as  belligerents,  but  as  rebelsJ^ 

Lord  Brougham  said  that  "  it  was  clear  that  privateering  was 
not  piracy  by  the  law  of  nations." 

Lord  Kingsdown  took  the  same  view.  "  What  was  to  be  the 
operation  of  the  Presidential  proclamation  upon  this  subject  was  a 
matter  for  the  consideration  of  the  United  States."  But  he  ex- 
pressed the  opinion  that  the  enforcement  of  the  doctrine  of  that 
proclamation  "  would  be  an  act  of  barbarity  which  would  produce 
an  outcry  throughout  the  civilized  world." 

Up  to  this  time  there  had  been  no  formal  cartel  for  the  exchange 
of  prisoners,  and  the  policy  of  the  Washington  Government  seemed 
to  be  that  they  would  not  treat  with  "  Rebels  "  in  any  way  which 
would  acknowledge  them  as  "  belligerents."  But  many  prisoners 
on  both  sides  were  released  on  parole,  and  a  proposition  made  in 
the  Confederate  Congress  to  return  the  Federal  prisoners  taken  at 
First  Manassas,  without  any  formality  whatever,  would  doubtless 
have  prevailed  but  for  the  difficulty  in  reference  to  the  crew  of  the 
Savannah. 

The  pressure  upon  the  Federal  Government  by  friends  of  the 
prisoners  became  so  great  that  they  were  finally  induced  to  enter 
into  a  cartel  for  the  exchange  of  prisoners  on  the  very  basis  that  the 
Confederates  had  ofiered  in  the  beginning.  The  Confederate  Gen- 
eral Howell  Cobb  and  the  Federal  General  Wool  entered  into  this 
arrangement  on  the  14th  of  February,  1862 — the  only  unadjusted 
point  being  that  General  Wool  was  unwilling  that  each  party  should 
agree  to  pay  the  expenses  of  transporting  their  prisoners  to  the 
frontier,  and  this  he  promised  to  refer  to  his  Government. 


156  Southern  Historical  Society  Papers. 

At  a  second  interview,  the  1st  March,  General  AVool  informed 
General  Cobb  that  his  Government  would  not  consent  to  pay  these 
expenses,  and  thereupon  General  Cobb  promptly  receded  from  his 
demand,  and  agreed  to  the  terms  proposed  by  the  other  side.  But 
General  Wool,  who  had  said  at  the  beginning  of  the  negotiation,  "I 
am  alone  clothed  ivith  full  pmver  for  the  purpose  of  arranging  for  the 
exchange  of  prisoners,"  was  now  under  the  necessity  of  stating  that 
"  his  Government  had  changed  his  instructions."  And  thus  the 
negotiations  were  abruptly  broken  off,  and  the  matter  left  where  it 
was  before.  The  vacillating  conduct  of  the  Federal  Government 
was  of  easy  explanation  and  in  perfect  accord  with  their  double 
dealing  throughout  the  war.  After  these  negotiations  had  begun, 
the  capture  of  Forts  Henry  and  Donelson  had  given  the  United 
States  a  considerable  preponderance  in  the  number  of  prisoners  held 
by  them,  and  they  at  once  reverted  to  their  original  purpose  of  not 
treating  with  "Eebels"  on  equal  terms. 

But  Jackson's  Valley  campaign,  the  Seven  Daj's  Battles  around, 
Richmond,  and  other  Confederate  successes  again  reversed  the  "bal- 
ance of  power,"  and  brought  the  Federal  Government  to  terms  to 
which  the  Confederate  authorities  were  always  willing.  Accordingly 
negotiations  were  again  entered  into  by  General  D.  H,  Hill,  on  the 
part  of  the  Confederacy,  and  General  John  A.  Dix,  on  the  part  of 
the  United  States,  and  the  result  was  the  adoption  of  the  following 

Cartel. 

Haxall's  Landing,  on  James  Riveb, 
July  22,  1862. 

The  undersigned,  having  been  commissioned  by  the  autho- 
rities they  respectively  represent  to  make  arrangements  for  a  gen- 
eral exchange  of  prisoners  of  war,  have  agreed  to  the  following 
articles : 

Article  I.  It  is  hereby  agreed  and  stipulated  that  all  prisoners  of 
war  held  by  either  party,  including  those  taken  on  private  armed 
vessels,  known  as  privateers,  shall  be  exchanged  upon  the  condi- 
tions and  terms  following: 

Prisoners  to  be  exchanged  man  for  man  and  officer  for  officer; 
privateers  to  be  placed  upon  the  footing  of  officers  and  men  of  the 
navy. 

Men  and  officers  of  lower  grades  may  be  exchanged  for  officers 
of  a  higher  grade,  and  men  and  officers  of  different  services  may 
be  exchanged  according  to  the  following  scale  of  equivalents: 

A  general-commander-in-chief  or  an  admiral  shall  be  exchanged 
for  officers  of  equal  rank,  or  for  sixty  privates  or  common  seamen. 


Treatment  of  Prisoners  During  the  War.  157 

A  flag-officer  or  major-general  shall  be  exchanged  for  officers  of 
equal  rank,  or  for  forty  privates  or  common  seamen. 

A  commodore,  carryhig  a  broad  pennant,  or  a  brigadier-general 
shall  be  exchanged  for  officers  of  equal  rank,  or  twenty  privates  or 
common  seamen. 

A  captain  in  the  navy  or  a  colonel  shall  be  exchanged  for  officers 
of  equal  rank,  or  for  fifteen  privates  or  common  seamen. 

A  lieutenant-colonel  or  commander  in  the  navy  shall  be  exchanged 
for  officers  of  equal  rank,  or  for  ten  privates  or  common  seamen. 

A  lieutenant-commander  or  a  major  shall  be  exchanged  for  offi- 
cers of  equal  rank,  or  eight  privates  or  common  seamen. 

A  lieutenant  or  a  master  in  the  navy  or  a  captain  in  the  army  or 
marines  shall  be  exchanged  for  officers  of  equal  rank,  or  six  pri- 
vates or  common  seamen. 

Masters'  mates  in  the  navy  or  lieutenants  or  ensigns  in  the  army 
shall  be  exchanged  for  officers  of  equal  rank,  or  four  privates  or 
common  seamen. 

Midshipmen,  warrant  officers  in  the  navy,  masters  of  merchant 
vessels  and  commanders  of  privateers  shall  be  exchanged  for  offi- 
cers of  equal  rank,  or  three  privates  or  common  seamen.  Second 
captains,  lieutenants,  or  mates  of  merchant  vessels  or  privateers, 
and  all  petty  officers  in  the  navy,  and  all  non-commissioned  officers 
in  the  army  or  marines,  shall  be  severally  exchanged  for  persons  of 
equal  rank,  or  for  two  privates  or  common  seamen;  and  private 
soldiers  or  common  seamen  shall  be  exchanged  for  each  other,  man 
for  man. 

Article  II.  Local,  State,  civil  and  militia  rank  held  by  persons 
not  in  actual  military  service  will  not  be  recognized,  the  basis  of 
exchange  being  the  grade  actually  held  in  the  naval  and  military 
service  of  the  respective  parties. 

Article  III.  If  citizens,  held  by  either  party  on  charges  of  disloyalty 
for  any  alleged  civil  ofience,  are  exchanged,  it  shall  only  be  for  citi- 
zens. Captured  sutlers,  teamsters,  and  all  civilians  in  the  actual 
service  of  either  party  to  be  exchanged  for  persons  in  similar  po- 
sition. 

Article  IV.  All  prisoners  of  war  to  be  discharged  on  parole  in  ten 
days  after  their  capture,  and  the  prisoners  now  held  and  those 
hereafter  taken  to  be  transported  to  the  points  mutually  agreed 
upon,  at  the  expense  of  the  capturing  party.  The  surplus  prisoners, 
not  exchanged,  shall  not  be  permitted  to  take  up  arms  again,  nor 
to  serve  as  military  police,  or  constabulary  force  in  any  fort,  garri- 
son or  field-work  held  by  either  of  the  respective  parties,  nor  as 
guards  of  prisoners,  deposit  or  stores,  nor  to  discharge  any  duty 
usually  performed  by  soldiers,  until  exchanged  under  the  provisions 
of  this  cartel.  The  exchange  is  not  to  be  considered  complete  until 
the  officer  or  soldier  exchanged  for  has  been  actually  restored  to 
the  lines  to  which  he  belongs. 

Article  V.  Each  party,  upon  the  discharge  of  prisoners  of  the 
other  party,  is  authorized  to  discharge  an  equal  number  of  their 


158  Southern  Historical  Society  Papers. 

own  officers  or  men  from  parole,  furnishing  at  the  same  time  to  the 
other  party  a  list  of  their  prisoners  discharged,  and  of  their  own 
officers  and  men  relieved  from  parole,  thus  enabling  each  party  to 
relieve  from  parole  such  of  their  own  officers  and  men  as  the  party 
may  choose.  The  lists  thus  mutually  furnished  will  keep  both 
parties  advised  of  the  true  condition  of  the  exchange  of  prisoners. 

Article  VI.  The  stipulations  and  provisions  above  mentioned  to 
be  of  binding  obligation  during  the  continuance  of  the  war,  it  mat- 
ters not  which  party  may  have  the  surplus  of  prisoners,  the  great 
principles  involved  being — 1st.  An  equitable  exchange  of  prisoners, 
man  for  man,  officer  for  officer,  or  officers  of  higher  grade  exchanged 
for  officers  of  lower  grade,  or  for  privates,  according  to  the  scale  of 
equivalents.  2d.  That  privates  and  officers  and  men  of  diflFerent 
services  may  be  exchanged  according  to  the  same  scale  of  equiva- 
lents. 3d.  That  all  prisoners,  of  whatever  arm  of  service,  are  to  be 
exchanged  or  paroled  in  ten  days  from  the  time  of  their  capture,  if 
it  be  practicable  to  transfer  them  to  their  own  lines  in  that  time;  if 
not,  as  soon  thereafter  as  practicable.  4th.  That  no  officer,  soldier, 
or  employee  in  service  of  either  party  is  to  be  considered  as  ex- 
changed and  absolved  from  his  parole  until  his  equivalent  has  ac- 
tually reached  the  lines  of  his  friends.  5th.  That  the  parole  forbids 
the  performance  of  field,  garrison,  police,  or  guard  or  constabulary 
duty. 

John  A.  Dix,  Major- General. 

D.  H.  Hill,  Major- General,  C.  S.  A. 


SUPPLEMENTARY    ARTICLES. 

Article  VII.  All  prisoners  of  war  now  held  on  either  side,  and  all 
prisoners  hereafter  taken,  shall  be  sent  with  reasonable  dispatch  to 
A.  M.  Aiken's,  below  Dutch  Gap,  on  the  James  river,  in  Virginia, 
or  to  Vicksburg,  on  the  Mississippi  river,  in  the  State  of  Mississippi, 
and  there  exchanged  or  paroled  until  such  exchange  can  be  effected, 
notice  being  previously  given  by  each  party  of  the  number  of  pri- 
soners it  will  send,  and  the  time  when  they  will  be  delivered  at 
those  points  respectively ;  and  in  case  the  vicissitudes  of  war  shall 
change  the  military  relations  of  the  places  designated  in  this  article 
to  the  contending  parties,  so  as  to  render  the  same  inconvenient  for 
the  delivery  and  exchange  of  prisoners,  other  places,  bearing  as 
nearly  as  may  be  the  present  local  relations  of  said  places  to  the 
lines  of  said  parties,  shall  be,  by  mutual  agreement,  substituted.  But 
nothing  in  this  article  contained  shall  prevent  the  commanders  of 
two  opposing  armies  from  exchanging  prisoners  or  releasing  them 
on  parole  at  other  points  mutually  agreed  on  by  said  commanders. 

Article  VIII.  For  the  purpose  of  carrying  into  effect  the  foregoing 
articles  of  agreement,  each  party  will  appoint  two  agents,  to  be  called 
Agents  for  the  Exchange  of  Prisoners  of  War,  whose  duty  it  shall 
be  to  communicate  with  each  other,  by  correspondence  and  other- 
wise ;  to  prepare  the  lists  of  prisoners,  to  attend  to  the  delivery  of 


Treatment  of  Prisoners  During  the  War.  159 

the  prisoners  at  the  places  agreed  on,  and  to  carry  out  promptly, 
effectually  and  in  good  faith  all  the  details  and  provisions  of  the  said 
articles  of  agreement. 

Article  IX.  And  in  case  any  misunderstanding  shall  arise  in  re- 
gard to  any  clause  or  stipulation  in  the  foregoing  articles,  it  is  mu- 
tually agreed  that  such  misunderstanding  shall  not  interrupt  the 
release  of  prisoners  on  parole,  as  herein  provided,  but  shall  be  made 
the  subject  of  friendly  explanation,  in  order  that  the  object  of  this 
agreement  may  neither  be  defeated  nor  postponed. 

John  A.  Dix,  Major-General. 

D.  H.  Hill,  Major- General,  C.  S.  A. 

The  rigid  observance  of  the  above  cartel  would  have  prevented 
all  the  horrors  of  prison  life,  North  and  South,  and  have  averted 
the  great  mortality  in  Southern  prisons  and  the  greater  mortality 
in  Northern  prisons.  The  Confederate  authorities  carried  out  in  good 
faith  the  provisions  of  the  cartel  until  the  other  side  had  not  only  frequently 
violated  nearly  every  article,  but  finally  repudiated  the  cartel  itself. 

Judge  Quid's  letter-book  gives  the  most  incontrovertible  proof  of 
this  statement;  but  we  reserve  the  detailed  proofs  for  the  present, 
and  pass  to  consider  further  the 

TREATMENT     OF     FEDERAL     PRISONERS     BY     THE     CONFEDERATE 
AUTHORITIES. 

We  have  given  above  the  testimony  of  General  Lee — that  the 
orders  were  to  treat  the  whole  field  alike,  caring  for  wounded 
friend  and  foe  without  discrimination,  and  that  "these  orders 
were  respected  on  every  field."  Time  and  again,  after  some  great 
victory,  has  the  writer  seen  our  brave  soldiers,  though  well  nigh 
worn  out  with  the  conflict,  ministering  to  their  wounded  foes — ■ 
sharing  with  them  their  scant  rations,  carrying  them  water,  binding 
up  their  wounds,  and  bearing  them  gently  back  to  our  field  hospi- 
tals, where  we  gave  them  every  attention  in  our  power.  We  were 
personal  witnesses  of  that  scene  at  Port  Republic,  when  Fremont, 
who  had  been  so  badly  whipped  by  Ewell  at  Cross  Keys  the 
day  before,  stood  idly  by  until  Jackson  had  routed  Shields,  and  then 
amused  himself  by  shelling  the  Confederate  ambulances  and  litter- 
bearers  who  were  caring  for  the  Federal  wounded.  It  is  by  no 
means  affirmed  that  there  were  not  individual  instances  of  cruelty 
to  prisoners  on  the  part  of  Confederate  soldiers  (especially  in  the 
latter  part  of  the  war,  when  their  passions  were  aroused  by  the 
heart-rending  stories  of  Federal  outrages  to  helpless  women  and 
children  which  came  from  every  quarter),  but  we  do  most  emphati- 


160  Southern  Historical  Society  Papers. 

cally  assert  that  our  soldiers  as  a  class  were  worthy  of  the  eulogy 
which  President  Davis  pronounced  upon  them  just  after  the  Seven 
Days  Battles  around  Richmond,  in  which  he  said,  "  You  are  fighting 
for  all  that  is  dearest  to  man,  and  though  oj^posed  to  a  foe  who  dis- 
regards many  of  the  usages  of  war,  your  humanity  to  the  wounded  and 
prisoners  was  a  fit  and  crowning  glory  to  your  valor.'''' 

The  following  well  authenticated  incident  of  a  gallant  Confederate 
soldier  was  brought  out  during  his  funeral  obsequies  last  fall : 

"While  Pickett's  division  was  before  Newbern,  General  Pickett 
received  by  flag  of  truce  a  letter  from  a  gentleman  in  Boston,  ac- 
comiDanied  by  a  package  of  money  containg  $2,000,  in  which  the 
writer  stated  he  had  a  brother,  a  Federal  officer,  in  the  Libby  Pri- 
son; that  his  brother  was  a  former  comrade  of  Pickett  in  the  Mexi- 
can war;  and  appealed  to  him,  by  the  friendship  of  their  old  days, 
to  forward  the  money  to  his  brother.  The  appeal  touched  the 
generous  heart  of  the  soldier,  and  he  dispatched  an  orderly  with 
the  money  to  the  officer.  The  orderly,  tempted  by  the  unusual 
sight  of  so  much  greenbacks,  basely  deserted  to  the  enemy  and  es- 
caped with  the  booty.  As  soon  as  Pickett  heard  of  the  desertion 
he  immediately  went  to  Richmond,  and  by  a-  mortgage  on  his  Tur- 
key Island  property  succeeded  in  borrowing  $2,000,  which  he  car- 
ried to  the  prisoner,  with  an  explanation  of  and  apology  for  the 
delay.  The  officer,  when  he  learned  by  what  means  the  General 
had  raised  the  money,  declined  to  accept  $1,000  of  it;  but  with 
that  nice  sense  of  honor  which  distinguished  the  true  Southern 
gentleman.  General  Pickett  compelled  him  to  do  so.  The  two  sol- 
diers then  talked  over  the  brave  old  days  of  the  past,  when  together 
they  fought  under  the  same  flag;  and  as  the  conversation  ripened 
into  friendly  confidence  the  prisoner  frankly  told  the  General  that 
his  object  was  to  escape  if  possible,  and  that  he  intended  using 
some  of  the  money  he  had  paid  him  in  the  efi'ort.  The  General 
checked  him  at  once  by  telling  him  that  he  could  not  receive  his 
confidence  in  such  a  matter;  that  the  money  was  his  own,  and  that 
he  had  a  right  to  do  with  it  as  he  pleased,  but  it  would  l)e  improper 
for  him  to  become  a  party  to  his  plans.  He  then  left.  The  pri- 
soner did  escape.  The  war  ended  disastrously  to  the  South,  and 
General  Pickett's  estate  was  sold  to  satisfy  the  mortgage  wliieh  he 
had  executed." 

This  incident  of  the  treatment  which  the  chivalric  Pickett  ac- 
corded to  this  prisoner  is  by  no  means  an  isolated  example  of  the 
readiness  of  Confederate  officers  and  soldiers  to  do  all  in  their 
power  to  alleviate  the  condition  of  prisoners.  Incidents  illustrating 
this  might  be  multiplied. 

But  we  proceed  to  inquire  into  the  treatment  received  by  Fede- 
ral prisoners  after  they  reached  our  prisons.     And  as  the  report  of 


Treatment  of  Prisoners  During  the  War.  161 

the  committee  of  the  Confederate  Congress  treats  chiefly  of  the 
prisons  in  and  around  Richmond,  we  will  speak  chiefly  of 

ANDERSONVILLE, 

of  which  Mr.  Blaine  says,  "Libby  pales  into  insignificance  before 
Andersonville."  We  cannot  better  state  the  case  than  it  has  been 
done  by  a  well  known  writer : 

"The  site  of  the  prison  at  Andersonville — a  point  on  the  South- 
western Railway,  in  Georgia — had  been  selected  under  an  official 
order  having  reference  to  the  following  points:  'A  healthy  locality, 
plenty  of  pure,  good  water,  a  running  stream,  and  if  possible  shade 
trees,  and  in  the  immediate  neighborhood  of  grist  and  saw  mills.' 
The  pressure  was  so  great  at  Richmond  and  the  supplies  so  scant 
that  prisoners  were  sent  forward  while  the  stockade  was  only  about 
half  finished.  When  the  first  instalment  of  prisoners  arrived,  there 
was  no  guard  at  Andersonville,  and  the  little  squad  which  had 
charge  of  them  in  the  cars  had  to  remain;  and  at  no  time  did  the 
guard,  efficient  and  on  duty,  exceed  fifteen  hundred,  to  man  the 
.stockade,  to  guard,  and  to  do  general  duty  and  afford  relief  and  en- 
force discipline  over  thirty-four  thousand  prisoners. 

"  In  regard  to  the  sufferings  and  mortality  among  the  prisoners  at 
Andersonville,  none  of  it  arose  from  the  unhealthiness  of  the 
locality.  The  food,  though  the  same  as  that  used  by  the  Con- 
federate soldiers — the  bread,  too,  being  corn — was  different  from 
that  to  which  they  had  been  accustomed,  did  not  agree  with  them, 
and  scurvy  and  'diarrhcea  prevailed  to  a  considerable  extent; 
neither  disease,  however,  was  the  result  of  starvation.  That  some 
prisoners  did  not  get  their  allowance,  although  a  full  supply  was 
sent  in,  is  tnie.  But  there  not  being  a  guard  sufficient  to  attend 
to  distribution.  Federal  prisoners  were  appointed,  each  having  a 
certain  number  allotted  to  his  charge,  among  whom  it  was  his  duty 
to  see  that  every  man  got  his  portion,  and,  as  an  inducement,  this 
prisoner  had  special  ftivors  and  advantages.  Upon  complaint  of 
those  under  him,  he  was  broke  and  another  selected;  so  that  it  only 
required  good  faith  on  the  part  of  these  head  men,  thus  appointed, 
to  insure  to  each  man  his  share.  But  prisoners  would  often  sell 
their  rations  for  whiskey  and  tobacco,  and  would  sell  the  clothes 
from  their  backs  for  either  of  them. 

"  In  regard  to  sanitary  regulations,  there  were  certain  prescribed 
places  and  modes  for  the  reception  of  all  filth,  and  a  sluice  was 
made  to  carry  it  off";  but  the  most  abominable  disregard  was  mani- 
fested 'of  all  sanitary  regulations,  and  to  such  a  degree  that  if  a 
conspiracy  had  been  entered  into  by  a  large  number  of  the  pri- 
soners to  cause  the  utmost  filth  and  stench,  it  could  not  have  ac- 
complished a  more  disgusting  result.  Besides  winch  there  was  a 
large  number  of  atrocious  villians,  whose  outrages  in  robbing,  beat- 
ing and  murdering  their  fellow-prisoners  must  have  been  the  cause, 
4 


162  Southern  Historical  Society  Papers.  Vll 

directly  or  remotel}'',  of  very  many  deaths  and  of  an  inconceivable 
amount  of  suffering.  We  must  recollect  that  among  thirty-four 
thousand  prisoners,  who  had  encountered  the  hardships  of  the 
fields  of  many  battles,  and  had  had  wounds,  there  were  many  of 
delicate  physique — many  of  respectability — to  whom  such  self- 
created  filth  and  such  atrocious  ruffianism  would  of  itself  cause 
despondency,  disease  and  death;  and  when,  in  addition  to  this,  was 
the  conviction  that  the  Federal  War  Department,  perfectly  cogni- 
zant of  all  this,  had  deliberately  consigned  them  indefinitely  to  this 
condition,  a  consuming  despair  was  superadded  to  all  their  other  ' 
sufferings. 

"  The  merits  of  Andersonville  may  be  summed  up  by  saying  that 
it  was  of  unquestioned  healthfulness;  it  was  large  enough  and  had     \ 
water  enough,  and  could  have  been  made  tolerable  for  the  number    " 
originally  intended  for  it.     It  appears  that  the  increase  of  that    ' 
number  was  apparently  a  matter  of  necessity  for  the  time ;  that    \ 
other  sites  were  selected  and  prepared  with  all  possible  dispatch ; 
that  the  provisions  were  similar  in  amount  and  quality  to  those 
used  by  Confederate  soldiers;  that  deficient  means  rendered  a  sup- 
ply of  clothing,  tents  and  medicines  scanty;  that  the  rules  of  dis- 
cipline and  sanitqry  regulations  of  the  prison,  i)'  complied  with  by 
the  prisoners,  would  have  secured  to  each  a  supply  of  food,  and  have 
averted  almost,  if  not  altogether,  the  filth  and  the  ruQlanism,  which 
two  causes,  outside  of  unavoidable  sickness,  caused  the  great  mass 
of  suffering  and  mortality." 

We  will  add  the  following  article,  written  by  Mr.  L.  M.  Park,  of 
La  Grange,  Georgia,  who  is  personally  known  to  us  as  a  gentleman 
of  unimpeachable  character,  and  whose  testimony  is  of  the  highest 
importance,  as  he  speaks  of  what  he  saw  himself.  His  article  was 
originally  written  for  the  Southern  Magazine,  and  while  it  contains 
some  expressions  which  are  bitter  against  the  slanderers  of  our 
people,  we  will  give  it  entire  except  the  concluding  paragraphs: 

The  "Rebel  Prison  Pen"  at  Andersonville,  Georgia. 

It  is  the  duty  of  every  lover  of  justice,  when  he  sees  a  gross  and 
injurious  calumny  put  into  circulation  which  he  is  able  to  refute 
from  direct  knowledge,  to  challenge  it  at  once,  and  more  especially 
if  it  is  aimed  at  his  OAvn  people,  and  meant  to  be  used  to  their  in- 
jury. It  is  true  that  in  those  regions  for  which  these  calumnies  are 
prepared  they  are  too  generally  preferred  to  the  truth,  even  when 
the  truth  is  offered ;  but  the  duty  of  affirming  the  truth  is  no  less  f 
obligatory  on  those  who  are  able  to  affirm  it.  It  is  with  tliis  view 
that  the  following  paper  is  written  to  correct  certain  statements 
which  recently  appeared  in  Appletons  Journal,*  professing  to  relate 

*See  September  ninthly  part  "A  Jaunt  In  the  South."    These  corrections  were  offered  to  j 
that  journal,  but  declined  on  the  ground  of  personal  regard  for  the  author  of  "  A  Jaunt  in  the 
South,"  who  is  a  regular  contributor. 


Treatment  of  Prisoners  During  the  War.  .  163 

facts  gleaned  during  a  trip  to  Andersonville,  Georgia,  concerning 
the  Confederate  military  prison  there  and  the  treatment  of  Federal 
prisoners.  Instead  of  reviewing  the  article  in  detail,  I  will  merely 
take  up,  one  by  one,  the  principal  false  statements. 

THE   WATER   THE   PRISONERS    DRANK. 

It  was  my  fortune  to  be  stationed  at  Andersonville  almost  from 

the  first  establishment  of  the  prison  until  the  removal  to  Millen 

Georgia,  or  Camp  Lawton,  and  I  unhesitatingly  pronounce  the 

I  statement  that  "  the  prisoners  had  to  drink  the  water  which  conveyed 

the  offal  of  three  camps  and  two  large  bakeries  or  kitchens  off"  before 

j  it  reached  them,"  utterly  false.     The  guards  drank  of  the  same 

!  water  that  quenched  the  prisoners'  thirst,  cooked  their  food  with 

■  the  same  water,  the  same  large  stream  or  creek  flowing  through  the 

j  encampment  of  guards  and  stockade,  or  prison-pen,  as  Northern 

writers  sneeringly  call  it.     The  camps  of  the  guards  all  faced  the 

il  stream,  while  their  sinks  were  far  oft'  in  the  rear,  and  orders  were 

\  most  strict  not  to  muddy  the  water,  much  less  defile  it  in  any  way, 

[  As  to  the  offal  of  the  bakeries,  these  being  presided  over  by  prisoners 

I  on  parole,  and  who  did  the  cooking  for  the  entire  j^rison,  I  cannot 

believe  they  would  pollute  the  water  their  brother  j)risoners  had  to 

I  drink.     As  rapidly  as  they  could  the  prisoners  dug  wells ;  iii  all 

!  some  two  hundred  were  dug,  and  purer,  sweeter,  colder  water  I 

never  drank.     Being  on  the  staff  of  Captain  Wirz,  I  had  free  access 

j  to  the  prison  at  all  times  day  or  night,  and  whenever  I  wished  to 

!  quench  my  thirst,  I  went  inside  the  prison  and  drank  from  one  of 

ij  these  wells. 

1;  THAT   RROVIDENTTAL   SPRING,   SO-CALLED. 

j  That  "  providential  spring"  is  an  impious  myth,  I  have  been  in 
the  prison  thousands  of  times  and  never  before  heard  it  so  called, 
except  on  reading  the  Herald's  account  of  the  anniversary  of  the 
Fulton  street  prayer  meeting,  when  some  pharisaically  pious 
old  brother  recited  a  long  rigmarole  about  this  same  "providential 
spring,"  and  said  it  was  planted  there  in  direct  answer  to  prayer. 
The  gist  of  this  spring-tale  is  that  when  the  prisoners'  sickness  and 
suffering  from  thirst  was  at  its  greatest,  all  at  once,  in  the  twinkling 
of  an  eye,  this  spring  gushed  forth  in  direct  answer  to  prayer.  Was 
ever  such  blasphemy?  If  such  was  the  case, , why  does  the  spring 
still  exist  after  it  has  answered  its  purpose?  Do  those  rocks  of 
Horeb  struck  by  Moses  to  slake  the  children  of  Israel's  thirst  still 
exist,  and  at  this  late  day  the  water  gush  forth?  It  is  all  a  cock- 
and-bull  story,  and  unlike  Sterne's,  one  of  the  poorest  I  ever  heard. 

TWO   FEDERAL   AND   THREE   REBEL   PROVIDENTIAL   SPRINGS. 

If  my  recollection  serves  me  right,  there  was  yet  another  of  these 
same  " providential  springs"  inside  the  stockade,  and  that  Provi- 
dence who  sends  the  rain  alike  upon  the  just  and  the  unjust  gave 


164  Southern  Historical  Society  Papers. 

unto  the  wicked  and  ungodly  Rebels  three  of  these  "providential 
springs;"  and  I  am  sure  he  did  not  plant  ours  in  answer  to  prayer, 
for  we  had  just  as  soon  drunk  the  branch  water. 

REASONS  WHY   THERE   WERE   NO   BARRACKS. 


The  Confederate  Government  has  always  been  harshly  assailed  c 
for  its  want  of  humanity  in  not  having  barracks  to  house  the  pris-  o 
oners  from  the  sun  and  rains.     A  more  senseless  hue  and  cry  was  ^ 
never  heard.     How  was  it  possible  to  saw  timber  into  planks  with-  j 
out  saw-mills  ?     There  were  two  water-power  mills  distant  three  and  -j 
six  miles  respectfully,  but  such  rude  primitive  affairs  undeserving  I 
the  name.     The  nearest  steam  saw-mill   was  twenty-three  miles 
distant  (near  Smithville),  the  next  at  Reynolds,  about  fifty  miles  i 
distant;  but  the  great  bulk  of  the  lumber  used,  fully  two-thirds, 
was  brought  from  Gordon,  a  distance  of  eight}'  miles,     ^ven  if 
these  mills  had  had  the  capacity  to  supply  the  necessary  amount  i 
of  lumber,  it  would  still  have  been  impossible  to  have  provided  ] 
barracks  for  the  prisoners,  as  all  the  available  engines  of  all  the 
railroads  in  the  Confederacy  were  taxed  to  their  utmost  capacit}'-  in  ; 
transporting  supplies  for  the  army  in  the  field  and  to  the  prisons 
But  few  even  of  the  officers  of  the  guard -had  shanties,  and  these  ; 
few  were  built  of  slabs  and  sheeting,  which  every  one  knows  is  the 
refuse  of  the  mills.     And  even  though  there  were  no  lack  of  lumber, 
Avhen  we  remember  that  there  was  but  one  solitary  manufactory  of 
cut  nails  in  the  limits  of  the  Confederacy,  ccrtainh'  no  blame  could 
be  attached  to  the  authorities  for  not  furnishing  more  comfortable  \ 
quarters  for  them.     Nearly  every  building  in  the  encam})ment  was  i 
built  of  rough  logs  and  covered  with  clap-boards  split  from  the  tree  ' 
and  held  to  their  places  by  poles.     The  force  of  these  statements  is 
readily  appreciated  by  every  intelligent,  unprejudiced  mind.     Be- 
sides, is  it  customary  for  any  nation  in  time  of  war  to  treat  their 
prisoners  in  a  more  humane  manner  than  their  own  soldiers  in  the 
field?     The  inquiry  becomes  pertinent  when  we  reflect  that  during 
the  last  two  years  of  the  war  there  was  not  a  tent  of  any  description 
to  be  found  in  any  of  the  armies  of  the  Confederacy,  save  such  as 
were  captured  from  the  Federals. 

HOW   THE   STOCKADE   WAS   BUILT. 

The  stockade  was  built  by  the  negroes  belonging  to  the  neigh- 
boring farms,  either  hired  or  pressed  into  service  by  the  Confederate' 
authorities  to  cut  down  the  immense  pine  trees  growing  on  thet 
ground  intended  for  the  stockade;  and  these  same  trees  were  them 
cut  into  proper  lengths  and  hewn  upon  the  spot,  and  then  planteds 
in  a  dit(Ji  dug  four  feet  deep  to  receive  them.     In  this  manner  was( 
the  stockade  made.     Before  it  was  completed  the  prisoners  were 
forwarded  in  great  numbers;  and  it  being  impossible  to  keep  them 
in  the  cars,  we  had  to  put  them  in  tlie  comi)leted  end  of  the  stock-f: 
ade  and  double  the  guards,  and  our  whole  force  kept  ever  ready 


Treatment  of  Prisoners  During  the  War.  165 

day  and  night  for  the  slightest  alarm ;  for  at  first  we  had  only  the 
shattered  remnants  of  two  regiments — the  Twenty-sixth  Alabama 
and  the  Fifty-fifth  Georgia — numbering  in  all  some  three  hundred 
and  fifty  men.  This  constituted  the  guard.  In  about  ten  days  there- 
after my  regiment — the  First  Georgia  Reserves,  composed  of  young 
boys  and  old  men  (I  was  not  sixteen),  just  organized — were  sent  to 
take  the  place  of  the  Twenty-sixth  Alabama  and  Twenty-sixth  Geor- 
gia, so  they  could  be  sent  to  the  front  for  duty.  In  a  few  days  after 
our  arrival  the  2d,  3d  and  4th  Georgia  Reserves,  all  composed  of  lads 
and  hoary -headed  men  (for  we  were  reduced  to  the  strait  of  "  robbing 
the  cradle  and  the  grave  for  men  to  make  soldiers  of"),  joined  us  as 
rapidly  as  they  could  be  organized.  The  author  of  "jaunt  in  the 
South  "  says :  "  When  the  stockade  was  occupied  in  1864,  there  was  not 
a  tree  or  blade  of  grass  within  it.  Its  reddish  sand  was  entirely  bar- 
ren, and  not  the  smallest  particle  of  green  showed  itself  But  now 
the  surface  is  covered  completely  with  underbrush ;  a  rich  growth  of 
bushes,  trees  and  plants  has  covered  the  entire  area,  and  where  be- 
fore was  a  dreary  desert  there  is  now  a  wild  and  luxurious  garden." 
I  have  before  said  the  ground  was  covered  with  a  pine  forest,  and  the 
trees  were  utilized  to  build  the  stockade.  Any  one  who  has  traveled 
south  of  Macon,  Georgia,  knows  the  pine  is  abundant,  and  in  fact 
almost  the  only  tree.  In  these  forests  the  ground  is  covered  by  wire 
grass  or  other  grass  peculiar  to  them, 

WHY   ANDERSONVILLE   WAS   SELECTED. 

The  main  reasons  for  locating  the  prison  at  Andersonville,  after 
its  first  being  thought  the  most  secure  place  in  the  Confederacy 
from  Yankee  cavalry  raids,  was  the  abundance  of  the  water  and 
the  timber  whercAvith  to  construct  the  prison  rapidly,  and  its  being 
in  the  very  heart  of  the  grain-growing  region  of  the  South,  which 
would  make  it  less  inconvenient  to  supply  with  provisions  such  a 
vast  multitude. 

MALICIOUS  EXHIBITION   IN   OHIO  STATE   CAPITOL. 

In  the  summer  of  1867,  I  set  out  for  New  York,  being  resolved  to 
live  no  longer  in  the  South,  where  negroes  were  being  placed  over 
us  by  Yankee  bayonets,  and  in  their  vernacular,  "  de  bottom  rail 
wuz  agittin'  on  de  top  er  de  fence."  I  traveled  very  leisurely,  and 
stopped  in  every  city  of  any  note  on  my  route,  and  kept  eyes  and 
ears  wide  open  to  drink  in  everything.  I  visited  the  Ohio  State 
Capitol  at  Columbus,  and  in  the  museum  of  curiosities  were  some 
small  paper  boxes  carefully  preserved  in  a  glass  case,  containing 
what  purported  to  have  been  the  exact  quality  and  quantity  of 
rations  issued  per  diem  to  each  prisoner  at  Andersonville.  In  one 
box  was  about  a  pint  of  coarse  unbolted  meal,  and  in  another  about 
one  tablespoonful  of  rice;  and  still  another  box  with  about  two 
tablespoonsful  of  black  peas ;  and  in  a  tiny  little  box  was  about  one- 
eighth  of  a  teaspoon  of  salt.     Underneath  it  is  all  explained,  and 


1 


166  Southern  Historical  Society  Papers. 


sajs,  among  other  things,  "When  rice  was  given,  the  peas  were 
withheld ;  but  when  they  had  no  rice,  this  kind  of  peas  was  given  in- 
stead." It  is  needless  to  tell  how  my  blood  boiled  at  such  an  atro- 
ciously malicious  and  false  exhibition.  No  wonder  the  hatred  of 
the  North  is  kept  alive,  and  the  bloody  chasm  continually  widened 
by  such  wickea  and  uncharitable  displays  as  this  in  one  of  the 
largest  and  most  enlightened  States  in  the  Union. 

RATIONS   TO   GUARDS   AND   PRISONERS   THE   SAME. 

I  was  for  three  months  a  clerk  in  the  Commissary  Department 
at  Anderson ville,  and  it  was  my  business  to  weigh  out  rations  for 
the  guards  and  prisoners  alike;  and  I  solemnly  assert  that  the  pri- 
soners got  ounce  for  ounce  and  jDound  for  pound  of  just  the  same 
quality  and  quantity  of  food  as  did  the  guards.  The  State  autho- 
rities of  Ohio  ought  to  blush  at  thus  traducing  and  slandering  a 
fallen  foe,  and  never  in  the  first  instance  to  have  placed  on  exhibition 
for  preservation  as  truth  this  fabrication  of  partisan  hate.  No  An- 
dersonville  prisoner,  unless  he  were  lost  to  all  sense  of  honor  and 
shame,  could  make  such  a  statement  as  that  the  rations  were  no 
more  than  the  specimens  shown. 

WHY   THE   PRISONERS   WERE   FED   ON   CORN   BREAD. 

It  has  been  charged  as  a  crying  shame  upon  the  Confederacy  by 
ignorant  humanitarians  that  the  South  might  at  least  have  given^ 
the  prisoners  wheat  bread  occasionally;  that  they  rarely  ate  corn' 
bread  in  their  own  land,  and  that  the  bread  we  issued  was  made  of 
meal  so  coarse  and  unsifted  that  it  caused  dysentery,  thereby  largely 
increasing  the  mortality.  It  is  well  known  now  that  the  South 
dejDends  very  largely,  and  with  shame  I  confess  it,  on  the  West  for 
her  bread  and  bacon,  and  the  cotton  belt  proper  makes  but  little 
pretension  of  raising  wheat,  for  the  climate,  it  is  said,  is  unsuited ; 
so  that  the  region  round  about  Andersonville,  being  in  the  very 
heart  of  the  cotton-growing  section  of  Georgia,  such  a  thing  as 
feeding  prisoners  on  flour  was  simply  impossible,  and  the  little 
flour  that  was  obtained  as  tithes  (one-tenth  of  all  the  crops  raised 
was  rec[uircd  by  our  Government)  was  devoted  entirely  to  the  use 
of  the  hospitals.  Not  only  was  this  true  of  the  territory  immediately 
surrounding  Andersonville,  but  of  the  whole  South.  Our  own 
armies  were  unsupplied  with  flour,  and  perhaps  not  one  family  in 
fifty  throughout  the  whole  land  enjoyed  that  luxury.  The  guards 
ate  the  same  bread,  or  rather  meal ;  the  bread  eaten  by  the  prisoners 
being  baked  by  regular  bakers  (prisoners  detailed  for  that  purpose), 
while  the  guards  did  their  own  cooking.  The  meal,  however,  was 
the  same,  and  both  were  unsifted  and  in  truth  very  coarse.  I  ate 
the  unsifted  meal  ah.vays. 

THE   DEAD   LINE. 

Another  cry  of  holy  horror  is  raised  every  time  the  "  Dead  Line" 
is  mentioned,  as  if  this  dead  line  was  prvna  facie  evidence  that  the 


Treatment  of  Prisoners  During  the  War.  167 

Southerners  were  as  barbarous  and  cruel  a  race  as  ever  blotted  the 
face  of  earth.  The  civilized  North,  however,  had  the  same  barba- 
rous dead  line  in  their  prisons,  and  in  fact  originated  the  device.  It 
was  a  necessity  with  u^  for  we  had  never  at  one  time  more  than 
1,200  to  1,500  guards  in  the  four  regiments  fit  for  duty,  and  we  had 
the  keeping  at  one  time  of  very  nearly  40,000  prisoners.  By  a  con- 
certed plan  of  onslaught  they  could  at  any  time  have  scaled  the 
walls,  captured  guards,  and  with  the  weapons  of  their  keepers 
overrun  the  entire  country,  which,  all  south  of  Dalton,  Georgia 
(100  miles  north  ot  Atlanta),  was  left  wholly  unprotected  save  by 
gray-haired  old  men  and  3^oung  boys;  and  the  women,  children, 
and  negroes,  who  were  the  only  hope  for  the  making  of  crops  for  our 
armies,  would  have  been  helplessly  at  their  mercy.  This  dead  line 
was  clearly  defined,  and  consisted  of  stakes  driven  into  the  ground 
twenty  feet  from  the  stockade  walls,  and  on  these  stakes  was  a  three- 
inch  strip  of  plank  nailed  all  around  the  inside  of  the  prison. 
They  were  all  notified  that  a  step  beyond  this  line  was  not  prudent, 
and  they  were  not  so  unwise  as  to  venture  be3^ond  that  limit. 

BURIAL    OF   DEAD   PRISONERS. 

Speaking  of  the  number  and  burial  of  the  dead,  the- writer  of  the 
aforesaid  "Jaunt"  says:  "The  authorities  at  the  stockade  who 
had  charge  of  the  interment  of  the  Federal  dead  did  their  work 
rudely,  =!=  *  *  digging  pits  and  burying  them  in."  Then  he 
goes  on:  "It  is  hard  to  comprehend  the  true  value  of  the  number, 
14,000;  its  magnitude  eludes  you.  Fourteen  thousand  men  would 
form  a  great  mob,  or  a  great  army,  or  a  great  town.  Here  you 
have  14,000  men  lying  silently  in^  few  acres.  Within  these  bounds 
men  have  suffered  as  greatly  as  have  any  since  the  world  began." 
In  reply  to  this,  I  would  merely  say  the  burial  was  the  work  of 
prisoners  paroled  especially  for  the  purpose,  both  the  hauling  of 
the  bodies  to  the  ground,  the  digging  of  the  graves,  and  even  the 
records  of  the  names  were  all  done  by  paroled  prisoners.  Books 
and  a  tent  were  provided  solely  for  the  latter  purpose.  Owing  to 
the  weakness  of  the  guard,  paroled  prisoners  were  employed  for 
this  duty,  as  we  could  spare  no  men  for  the  purpose;  and  if  the 
work  was  rudely  or  carelessly  done,  the  blame  rests  with  them. 
As  compensation  they  were  given  double  rations  and  almost  entire 
freedom.  As  to  the  number  of  the  dead,  we  admit  that  it  is  great, 
but  statistics  show  that  more  Southern  soldiers  died  in  Northern 
prisons  than  Northern  soldiers  in  Southern  prisons.  In  vain  have 
Northern  writers  tried  to  disprove  this  fact. 

MORTALITY   NO   GREATER   AMONG   PRISONERS   THAN   GUARD._ 

Great  as  was  the  mortality  among  the  prisoners,  it  was  no  greater 
in  proportion  to  numbers  than  that  of  the  guard,  which  is  fully 
attested  by  the  reports  of  the  surgeon  in  charge.  Besides,  it  is  well 
known  to  every  soul  that  can  or  does  read  that  the  Confederacy, 


168  Southern  Historical  Society  Papers. 

through  their  agent,  Judge  Ould,  made  frequent  and  tireless  efforts 
to  get  the  United  States  Government,  through  their  agent.  General 
Butler,  to  exchange.  But  no,  the  Federal  authorities  would  not 
hear  to  it;  but  acting  on  the  avowed  and  promulgated  idea  that 
the  South,  being  blockaded,  could  not  recruit  her  armies  from 
foreign  lands,  while  to  the  North  the  whole  of  Europe  was  opened, 
they  cruelly  determined  not  to  exchange,  so  as  to  detain  our  soldiers 
from  again  fighting  them,  well  knowing  that  even  then  we  had  made 
our  last  conscription  (17  to  50  years),  and  when  those  wc  had  were 
killed  up  or  in  prison  we  would  of  course  be  overpowered.  This 
was  their  cold-blooded,  brutal  policy ;  and  closely  did  they  stick  to  it, 
even  till  we  were  almost  literally  wiped  out,  while  the  men  they 
had  fighting  us  were  in  most  part  hired  substitutes,  drafted  men, 
and  foreign  hirelings. 

PRINCIPAL   CAUSE   OF   MORTALITY. 

Farther,  as  to  the  mortality  among  the  prisoners,  let  it  be  remem- 
bered that  a  majority  of  the  deaths  caused  in  our  prisons  was  for 
want  of  proper  medicines,  which  we  dnl  not  have  and  could  not 
get,  except  by  blockade-running.  Had  the  Federal  Government 
any  of  the  milk  of  human  kindness  in  its  composition,  it  would 
have  acceded  to  our  earnest  request  to  take  cotton  in  exchange  for 
drugs  to  administer  to  their  own  dying  soldiers.  Their  immense 
manufactories  were  lying  idle  for  want  of  cotton,  while  we  had  it 
but  could  not  use  it.  But  as  these  self-same  drugs  and  medicines 
would  also  be  applied  to  the  relief  of  our  own  sick  soldiers,  they 
determined  it  would  be  to  their  advantage  to  let  all  die  alike,  know- 
ing the  South  could  get  no  more  men  to  supply  the  places  of  the 
sick,  the  dying,  and  those  they  had  imprisoned,  so  refused  all  over- 
tures. After  using  every  effort  and  exhausting  every  argument  to 
get  an  exchange,  we  proposed — as  we  had  no  medicines  and  could 
get  none,  except  what  we  accidentally  ran  in  through  the  blockade 
from  Europe  (they  being  declared  contraband  and  always  confiscated 
whenever  captured  by  the  blockading  fleet) — we  proposed  to  turn 
over  to  them  all  their  sick,  without  requiring  man  for  man,  but 
giving  them  absolutely  up,  if  the  United  States  would  only  send 
vessels  for  transporting  them.  This  was  done  at  Camp  Lawton 
(Millen,  Georgia),  after  the  prison  was  removed  from  Andersonville 
for  greater  security. 

EXTRACTS   FROM    AN   OEFICER's    DIARY. 

From  the  private  journal  of  a  Confederate  officer  high  in  com- 
mand, both  at  Andersonville  and  other  Southern  prisons,  I  glean 
the  annexed  facts,  the  first  bearing  directly  upon  the  foregoing: — 
"At  one  time  an  order  came  to  Camp  Lawton  to  prepare  2,000  men 
for  exchange.  The  order  from  Richmond  was  to  select  first  the 
wounded,  next  the  oldest  prisoners  and  the  sickly,  filling  up  with 
healthy  men  according  to  date.     This  party  went  first  to  Savannah, 


Treatment  of  Prisoners  During  the  War.  169 

as  arranged,  but  by  some  mistake  the  ships  were  at  Charleston,  and 
the  poor  wretches  had  to  be  taken  there;  and  every  one  who  knew 
the  Southern  railroads  in  those  days,  and  the  difficulty  or  rather 
impossiblity  to  procure  food  for  such  a  crowd  along  the  road,  will 
know  what  those  poor  fellows  suffered.  At  Charleston  they  were 
refused,  the  commissioner  declaring  that  'he  was  not  going  to  ex- 
change able-bodied  men  for  such  miserable  specimens  of  humanity.' 
(The  term  used  was  more  brutal).  Finding  him  obdurate.  Colonel 
Ould  requested  him  to  take  them  without  exchange.  This  he  re- 
fused with  a  sneering  laugh,  and  the  crowd  was  ordered  back. 
Never  did  the  writer  of  this  witness  such  woe-begone  countenances, 
in  which  misery  and  hopelessness  were  more  strongly  painted, 
than  shown  by  those  poor  fellows  on  their  return.  And  the  curses 
leveled  against  the  rulers  who  thus  treated  the  defenders  of  their 
country  were  fearful,  although  certainly  well  deserved.  As  the 
stockade-gate  closed  upon  Ihem  the  surgeon  in  charge  said  to  the 
writer:  'Poor  fellows!  the  world  has  closed  upon  more  than  half 
of  them ;  this  disappointment  will  be  their  death-knell.'  His  words 
proved  true.  Who  murdered  those  men?  Let  history  answer  the 
question." 

CLOTHING   FOR  PRISONERS. 

Again  I  extract  from  the  aforesaid  journal :  "  The  Northerners 
talk  so  much  of  the  cruelty  of  the  South  to  the  Federal  prisoners. 
At  one  time  the  unfortunate  prisoners  were  almost  without  cloth- 
ing, indeed  some  had  hardly  as  much  as  common  decency  required. 
The  South  could  not  provide  them,  not  being  able  to  clothe  their 
own  men.  An  application  was  made  to  Seward.  The  reply  was 
that  'the  Federal  Government  did  not  supply  clothing  to  prisoners 
of  war.'  Luckily  for  the  poor  fellows,  a  society  in  New  York  took 
the  matter  in  hand,  and  several  bales  of  clothing  and  cases  of  shoes 
were  forwarded  to  Richmond,  and  divided,  in  propotion  to  numbers, 
among  the  prisons." 

CRUELTY   TO   PRISONERS. 

A  great  deal  has  been  said  of  the  cruelty  to  the  prisoners  inside 
the  stockade.  This  so-called  cruelty  was  inflicted  by  their  own 
men.  In  every  prison  a  police  with  a  chief,  all  from  the  prisoners,  was 
appointed  to  keep  order,  see  to  the  enforcement  of  the  regulations, 
and  inquire  into  all  offences,  reporting  through  their  chief  to  the 
Commandant.  The  punishments,  such  as  were  used  in  the  Federal 
army,  were  ordered  to  be  inflicted  by  these  men,  and  some  were  of 
such  a  barbarous  nature  that  they  were  prohibited  with  disgust  by 
the  Confederate  officers,  who  substituted  milder  and  more  humane 
ones;  and  yet  the  former  were  in  common  practice  in  the  Federal 
armies,  as  testified  by  all  the  prisoners. 

BLOODHOUNDS. 

Among  the  numerous  lies  invented  by  Northerners,  and  actually 
still  believed  by  some  parties  to  this  day,  was  the  story  that  the 


170  Southern  Historical  Society  Papers. 

Confederates  used  to  hunt  and  worry  prisoners  with  bloodhounds. 
Now  it  is  well  known  that  the  breed  of  bloodhounds  is  nearly  ex- 
tinct in  the  South,  and  the  large  packs  of  those  dogs  alluded  to  by 
writers  on  this  subject  existed  only  in  their  imaginations,  the  pro- 
lific brains  of  penny-a-liners,  whose  vile  and  lying  compositions 
even  now  abound  in  many  so-called  respectable  New  York  papei;s. 
No  public  man  is  safe  from  their  atrocious  attacks.  Among  the 
various  specimens  of  this  dog  alluded  to  by  the  above-named  gentry, 
was  the  famous  bloodhound  of  the  Libby  Prison.  The  writer  has 
often  seen  this  formidable  animal,  which  certainly  in  his  youth 
must  have  been  as  fine  a  specimen  of  the  kind  as  could  be  met 
anywhere,  but  unfortunately  for  the  thrilling  portion  of  the  accounts 
of  his  doings  at  the  time  of  the  war,  the  poor  beast,  worn  out  from 
old  age  and  with  hardly  a  tooth  in  his  head,  wandered  about  a 
harmless,  inoffensive  creature.  He  was  the  property  of  the  Com- 
mandant of  Libby,  who  kept  him  because  he  was  a  pet  dog  of  his 
father's,  and  there  the  brute  lived  a  pensioner  in  his  old  age.  As 
to  his  worrying  men,  he  could  not,  had  he  even  tried,  have  worried 
a  dfiild.  The  other  prisons  had  none,  not  even  as  pensioners. 
Among  the  records  history  gives  us  of  using  those  dogs  to  hunt 
men,  it  is  stated  that  during  the  Florida  war  a  number  of  blood- 
hounds were  imported  by  the  Federal  Government  from  Cuba  to 
hunt  the  Indians  out  of  the  Everglades,  and-  that  numbers  of  the 
natives  were  worried  to  death  by  the  ferocious  beasts.  The  writer 
does  not  deny  that  Avhen  a  prisoner  got  out  of  the  stockade  trying 
to  escape,  if  no  clue  could  be  obtained  of  his  whereabouts,  a  few 
mongrel  or  half-bred  fox-hounds  were  used  to  track  him,  but  the 
worrying  was  all  done  in  the  correspondent's  own  brain.  However, 
it  suited  the  times  and  made  the  article  sell.  The  only  complaint 
made  is  that  this  vile  and  malicious  lie  is  still,  if  not  believed,  re- 
peated by  some  who  use  it  for  party  purposes,  and  thus  help  to 
keep  up  the  bad  feeling  between  North  and  South. 

In  reference  to  the  causes  of  the  mortality  at  Andersonville,  we 
have  the  highest  medical  authority,  testimony  which  the  other  side 
cannot  impeach,  for  it  was  on  his  testimony  (garbled  and  perverted, 
it  is  true)  that  they  hung  Captain  Wirz.  Dr.  Joseph  Jones,  now 
a  professor  in  the  Medical  College  at  New  Orleans,  and  then  one  of 
the  most  distinguished  surgeons  in  the  Confederate  service,  was 
sent  to  Andersonville  to  inspect  the  prison  and  report  on  the  causes 
of  mortality  at  Andersonville.  He  has  recently  sent  us  a  MS., 
from  which  we  make  the  following  extract: 

Statement  of  Dr.  Joseph  Joues. 

In  the  specification  of  the  first  charge  against  Henry  Wirz,  for- 
merly commandant  of  the  interior  of  the  Confederate  States  mili- 
tary prison  at  Andersonville,  during  his  trial  before  a  tijiecial  Military 


Treatment  of  Prisoners  During  the  War.  171 

Commission,  convened  in  accordance  with  Special  Orders  No.  453,  War 
Department,  Adjutant-General's  office,  Washington,  August  23d, 
1865,  the  following  is  written : 

"And  the  said  Wirz,  still  pursuing  his  wicked  purpose  and  still 
aiding  in  carrying  out  said  conspiracy,  did  use  and  caused  to 
be  used,  for  the  pretended  purpose  of  vaccination,  impure  and  poi- 
sonous matter,  which  said  impure  and  poisonous  matter  was  then 
and  there,  by  the  direction  and  order  of  said  Wirz,  maliciously, 
cruelly  and  wickedly  deposited  in  the  arms  of  many  of  the  said  pri- 
soners, by  reason  of  which  large  numbers  of  them — to  wit:  one  hun- 
dred— lost  the  use  of  their  arms;  and  many  of  them — to  wit:  about 
the  number  of  two  hundred — were  so  injured  that  soon  thereafter  they 
died;  all  of  which  he,  the  said  Henry  Wirz,  well  knew  and  ma- 
liciously intended,  and,  in  aid  of  the  then  existing  rebellion  against 
the  United  States,  with  the  view  of  weakening  and  impairing  the 
armies  of  the  United  States;  and  in  furtherance  of  the  said  con- 
spiracy, and  with  full  knowledge,  consent  and  connivance  of  his 
co-conspirators  aforesaid,  he,  the  said  Wirz,  then  and  there  did." 

Among  the  co-conspirators  specified  in  the  charges  were  the 
surgeon  of  tlie  post.  Dr.  White,  and  the  surgeon  in  charge  of  the 
military  prison  hospital,  R.  R.  Stevenson,  Surgeon,  C.  S.  A.  As  the 
vaccinations  were  made  in  accordance  with  the  orders  of  the  Sur- 
geon-General, C.  S.  A.,  and  of  the  medical  officers  acting  under  his 
command,  the  charge  of  deliberately  poisoning  the  Federal  pri- 
soners with  vaccine  matter  is  a  sweeping  one;  and  whether  in- 
tended so  or  not,  affects  every  medical  officer  stationed  at  that  post; 
and  it  appears  to  have  been  designed  to  go  farther,  and  to  affect 
the  reputation  of  every  one  who  held  a  commission  in  the  Medical 
Department  of  the  Confederate  army. 

The  acts  of  those  who  once  composed  the  Medical  Department 
of  the  Confederate  army,  from  the  efficient  and  laborious  Surgeon- 
General  to  the  regimental  and  hospital  officers,  need  no  defence  at 
my  hancl.s  Time,  with  its  unerring  lines  of  historic  truth,  will  em- 
balm their  heroic  labors  in  the  cause  of  suffering  humanity,  and 
will  acknowledge  their  untiring  efforts  to  ameliorate  the  most  gi- 
gantic mass  of  human  suffering  that  ever  fell  to  the  lot  of  a  beleagured. 
and  distressed  people. 

The  grand  object  of  the  trial  and  condemnation  of  Henry  Wirz 
was  the  conviction  and  execution  of  President  Davis,  General 
Robert  E.  Lee,  and  other  prominent  men  of  the  Confederacy,  in 
order  that  'treason  might  be  rendered  forever  odious  and  infamous.''^ 

In  accordance  with  the  direction  of  Dr.  Samuel  Preston  Moore, 
formerly  Surgeon-General,  C.  S.  A.,  I  instituted,  during  the  months 
of  August  and  September,  1864,  a  series  of  investigations  on  the 
diseases  of  the  Federal  prisoners  confined  in  Camp  Sumter,  Ander- 
sonville,  Georgia. 

The  report  which  I  drew  up  for  the  use  of  the  Medical  Depart- 
ment of  the  Confederate  army,  contained  a  truthful  representation 
of  the  sufferings  of  these  prisoners,  and  at  the  same  time  gave  an 


172  Southern  Historical  Society  Papers. 

equally  truthful  view  of  the  difficulties  under  which  the  medical 
officers  labored,  and  of  the  distressed  and  beleagured  and  desolated 
condition  of  the  Southern  States. 

Shortly  after  the  close  of  the  civil  war  this  report,  which  had 
never  been  delivered  to  the  Confederate  authorities,  on  account  of 
the  destruction  of  all  railroad  communication  with  Richmond,  Vir- 
ginia, was  suddenly  seized  by  the  agents  of  the  United  States  Gov- 
ernment conducting  the  trial  of  Henry  Wirz.  I  have  since  learned 
that  the  United  States  authorities  gained  knowledge  of  the  fiict  that 
I  had  inspected  Andersonville  through  information  clandestinely 
furnished  by  a  distinguished  member  of  the  medical  profession  of 
the  North,  who,  after  the  close  of  the  war,  had  shared  the  hospi- 
tality of  my  own  home. 

It  was  with  extreme  pain  that  I  contemplated  the  diversion  of 
my  labors,  in  the  cause  of  medical  science,  from  their  true  and 
legitimate  object;  and  I  addressed  an  earnest  appeal,  which  ac- 
companied the  report,  to  the  Judge-Advocate,  Colonel  N.  P.  Chip- 
man,  in  which  I  used  the  following  language: 

"Injustice  to  myself,  as  well  as  to  those  most  nearly  connected 
with  this  investigaxion,  I  would  respectfully  call  the  attention  of 
Colonel  Chipman,  Judge-Advocate,  U.  S.  A.,  to  the  fact  that  the 
matter  which  is  surrendered  in  ol)edience  to  the  demands  of  a 
power  from  which  there  is  no  appeal,  was  prepared  solely  for  the 
consideration  of  the  Surgeon-General,  C.  S.  A.,  and  was  designed  to 
promote  the  cause  of  humanity  and  to  advance  the  interests  of  the 
medical  profession.  This  being  granted,  I  feel  assured  that  the 
Judge-Advocate  will  appreciate  the  deep  pain  which  the  anticipa-  • 
tion  gives  me  that  these  labors  may  be  diverted  from  their  original 
mission  and  applied  to  the  prosecution  of  criminal  cases.  The 
same  principle  which  led  me  to  endeavor  to  deal  humanely  and 
justly  by  these  prisoners,  and  to  make  a  truthful  representation  of 
their  condition  to  the  Medical  Department  of  the  Confederate  States 
army,  now  actuates  me  in  recording  my  belief  that  as  far  as  my 
knowledge  extends  there  was  no  deliberate  or  wilful  design  on  the 
part  of  the  Chief  Executive,  Jefferson  Davis,  and  the  highest  au- 
thorities of  the  Confederate  Government  to  injure  the  health  and 
destroy  the  lives  of  these  Federal  prisoners.  On  the  21st  of  May, 
1861,  it  was  enacted  by  the  Congress  of  the  Confederate  States  of 
America,  'that  iill  prisoners  of  war  taken,  whether  on  land  or  sea, 
during  the  pending  hostilities  with  the  United  States,  should  be 
transferred  l>y  the  captors,  from  time  to  time,  as  often  as  conve- 
nient, to  the  Department  of  War;  and  it  should  be  the  duty  of  the 
Secretary  of  War,  with  the  approval  of  the  President,  to  issue  such 
instructions  to  the  Quartemaster-General  and  his  subordinates  as 
shall  provide  for  tlic  safe  custody  and  sustenance  of  prisoners  of 
war ;  and  the  rations  furnished  prisoners  of  war  shall  be  the  same 
in  quantity  and  quality  as  those  furnished  enlisted  men  in  the 
army  of  the  Confederacy.'  By  act  of  February  17th,  1864,  the 
Quartermaster-General  was  relieved  of  this  duty,  and  the  Commis- 


Treatment  of  Prisoners  During  the  War.  173 

sary-General  of  Subsistence  was  ordered  to  provide  for  the  suste- 
nance of  prisoners  of  war.  Accordinf?  to  General  Orders  No.  159, 
Adjutant  and  Inspector-General's  office,  'Hospitals  for  prisoners 
of  war  are  placed  on  the  same  footing  as  other  Confederate  States 
hospitals  in  all  respects,  and  will  be  managed  accordingly.' 

"  The  Federal  jDrisoners  were  removed  to  southwestern  Georgia  in 
the  early  part  of  1864,  not  only  to  secure  a  place  of  confinement 
more  remote  than  Richmond  and  other  large  towns  from  the  opera- 
tions of  the  United  States  forces,  but  also  '  to  secure  a  more  abundant 
and  easy  supply  of  food.''  As  far  as  my  experience  extends,  no  per- 
son who  had  been  reared  on  wheat  bread,  and  who  was  held  in 
captivity  for  any  length  of  time,  could  retain  his  health  and  escape 
either  scurvy  or  diarrhoea,  if  confined  to  the  Confederate  ration  (is- 
sued to  the  soldier  in  the  field  and  hospital)  of  unbolted  corn  meal 
and  bacon.  The  ;large  armies  of  the  Confederacy  suffered  more 
than  once  from  scurvy;  and  as  the  war  progressed,  secondary 
hemorrhage  and  hospital  gangrene  became  fearfully  prevalent  from 
the  deteriorated  condition  of  the  systems  of  the  troops,  dependent 
on  the  prolonged  use  of  salt  meat;  and  but  for  the  extra  supplies 
received  from  home,  and  from  the  various  State  benevolent  insti- 
tutions, scurvy  and  diarrhoea  and  dysentery  would  have  been  still 
farther  prevalent. 

"  It  was  believed  by  the  citizens  of  the  Southern  States  that  the 
Confederate  authorities  desired  to  effect  a  continuous  and  speedy 
exchange  of  prisoners  of  war  in  their  hands,  on  the  ground  that 
the  retention  of  these  soldiers  in  captivity  was  a  great  calamity, 
not  only  entailing  heavy  expenditure  of  the  scanty  means  of  sub- 
sistence, already  insuflicient  to  support  their  suffering,  half-starved, 
half-clad  and  unpaid  armies,  struggling  in  the  field  with  over- 
whelming numbers,  and  embarrassing  their  imperfect  and  dilapi- 
dated lines  of  communication,  but  also  as  depriving  them  of  the 
services  of  a  veteran  army,  fully  equal  to  one-third  the  number 
actively  engaged  in  the  field;  and  the  history  of  subsequent  events 
have  shown  that  the  retention  in  captivity  of  the  Confederate  pri- 
soners was  one  of  the  efficient  causes  of  the  final  and  complete 
overthrow  of  the  Confederate  Government.  *  *  *  ''''  It  is  my 
honest  belief  that  if  the  exhausted  condition  of  the  Confederate 
Government — with  its  bankrupt  currency — with  its  retreating  and 
constantly  diminishing  armies — with  tlie  apparent  impossibility 
of  filling  up  the  vacancies  by  death  and  desertion  and  sickness, 
and  of  gathering  a  guard  of  reserves  of  sufficient  strength  to  allow 
of  the  proper  enlargement  of  the  miHtary  prison — and  with  a 
country  torn  and  bleeding  along  all  its  borders — with  its  starving 
women  and  children  and  old  men,  fleeing  from  the  desolating 
march  of  contending  armies,  crowding  tlie  dilapidated  and  over- 
burdened railroad  lines,  and  adding  to  the  distress  and  consuming 
the  poor  charities  of  those  in  the  interior,  who  were  harassed  by 
the  loss  of  sons  and  brothers  and  husbands,  and  by  the  fearful 
visions  of  starvation  and  undefined  misery — could  be  fully  realized, 


174  Southern  Historical  Society  Peepers. 

much  of  the  suffering  of  the  Federal  prisoners  would  be  attributed 
to  causes  connected  with  the  distressed  condition  of  the  Southern 
States." 

The  Judge-Advocate,  N.  P.  Chipraan,  Colonel,  U.  S.  A.,  was  not 
only  deaf  to  this  appeal,  but  in  liis  final  argument  before  the  Mili- 
tary Commission,  or  so  called  ''^ Court,''''  whilst  excluding  all  portions 
of  my  testimony  which  related  to  the  distressed  condition  of  the 
Southern  States,  and  the  efibrts  of  the  medical  officers  and  Con- 
federate authorities  to  relieve  the  sufferings  of  these  prisoners  of 
war,  deliberately  endeavored  to  arouse  the  hatred  of  the  eatire 
North  against  the  author  of  the  report  and  the  medical  officers  of 
the  Confederate  arm3^  This  statejnent  will  be  manifest  from  the 
following  quotation,  which  I  extract  from  the  "arr/iunoii"  of  the 
Judge- Advocate  before  the  ^^ Court  :^' 

"He  had  called  into  his  counsels  an  eminent  medical  gentleman, 
of  high  attainments  in  his  profession,  and  of  loyalty  to  the  Rebel 
Government  unquestioned.  Amid  all  the  details  in  this  terrible 
tragedy  there  seems  to  me  none  more  heartless,  wanton  and  void 
of  humanity  than  that  revealed  by  the  Surgeon-General,  to  which 
I  am  about  to  refer.  I  quote  now  from  the  report  of  this  same  Dr. 
Joseph  Jones,  which  he  saj'-s  (Record,  p.  4384)  was  made  in  the 
interest  of  the  Confederate  Government  for  the  use  of  the  Medical 
DejDartment,  in  the  view  that  no  eye  would  see  it  but  that  of  the 
Surgeon-General. 

"After  a  brief  introduction  to  his  report,  and  to  show  under 
what  authoritity  it  was  made,  he  quotes  a  letter  from  the  Surgeon- 
General,  dated  Surgeon-General's  office,  Richmond,  Virginia,  Au- 
gust 6th,  1S64.  The  letter  is  addressed  to  Surgeon  I.  H.  White,  in 
chage  of  the  Hospital  for  Federal  prisoners,  Andersonville,  Georgia, 
and  is  as  folllows : 

"'Sir — The  field  of  pathological  investigation  afforded  by  the 
large  collection  of  Federal  prisoners  in  Georgia  is  of  great  extent 
and  importance,  and  it  is  believed  that  results  of  value  to  the  pro- 
fession may  be  obtained  by  careful  examination  of  the  cfi'ects  of 
disease  upon  a  large  body  of  men  subjected  to  aclecided  cliange  of 
climate  and  the  circumstances  peculiar  to  prison  life.  The  surgeon 
in  charge  of  the  hospital  for  Federal  prisoners,  together  with  his 
assistants,  will  afford  every  facility  to  Surgeon  Joseph  Jones  in  the 
prosecution  of  the  labors  ordered  by  the  Surgeon-General.  The 
medical  officers  will  assist  in  the  performance  of  such  post  mortems 
as  Dr.  Jones  may  indicate,  in  order  that  this  great  field  for  patho- 
logical investigation  maybe  exj^lored  for  the  benefit  of  the  Medical 
Department  of  the  Confederate  States  armies. 

"'S.  P.  Moore,  Surgeon- GeneraU 


orders  from  thp  S.        ^  Permit  Suro-enn    T        7  • 

-%  order  Of  (SX:s,  ^^^^---^^ '^£^^.:S 

\^ery  respectfully, 
"' Captain  H,  \7m7   ^^  '"  W   0    xxr 

When  we  rpmo    u 
S"^^fc^5^^^^^  ^-  bee.  a, 

^is  profession  or  ree A  '*  1'"^^^^^^  ^^afj  ce'S"^^."^«ompetint,  it  is 
"pon  hin,--I  cTrceiv  nf  "^^T^^^^^  of  th^  ,ioh  ]"']•  ^^^^tionto 
■  ^^ately  pen  suchliZ^ty"  ^^^^^^^^e  coul  j  ?i?  l^''  '?i''''^ 
Was  It  not  enonah  7^1  °^  instructions  as  fh.f  •  '^'^  '^^"^1  delib- 
diers  ?  Was  ft  St  °  ^'''^^  «^"elly  starved  t  1  ^'"^^'^  ^^  ^i'-  Jones 
memories   bv  1        '''°''-^'  ^^  have  soual  f  f '^  ^^^^^dered  oui  1] 

tiirough  Coionel  SX  ^^^  latter  was  ^  ?l°";^^"^^^i 

send  medical  office /.  "  ,  1'  ^-^  endorsing  that^>  .  "^  ^^^^^'^  him, 
on  duty  at  Ande: son.ill  '^'  ^^^  P^'^oe  Sf  the  con?r  ".^^^^^^^^^  ^o 
tingmshed  gentleman  of If^  ^?^^l  «e^ect  at  the  s,m,  f  ^'^'^^^'-^"^ 

pose.  m;?"^\7i',^!f^^-^^^--  -'^^^        ^'r^  *°  ^^ 

to  convey  to  them  one  nn"''''"^"  ^^0  suiferinasof  fhf'  ^°'  *^^'^^  P^^" 
suggestions  for  the  imnro?''  '''°'^  ^^  nutr  ?fous  fo' f  "f^^^^'^  Aiot 
purpose  of  this  Li^^'^ovement  of  their  s.n  fo  o'^^"  ^o  make  no 
i'or  no  other  inrn'^'.^^^'  ««  the  lettei  of  In  ^^fo^^i^on;  for  o 
vestigation  nCe!  'V^^  ^'^^  ^^i    gref t  S"f  °^  ^tself^shows 

jnent  of  the  gnfecS  ^'^  '°^"  ^^^^  be^t  of  ^h'e  .?''^^?^-^^^^^  ^'' 
tar  as  the  STirrv^  ^    '^^0  armies 'f     Th^    a     1      ®  ^^^dica]  Dennrf 
room,  a  di^f^f„<^-^-e-l  was  conc^tct^;t"'r"^  ?-^-'  - 
Partment  of  the  Confl?'  ^°  ^^  ^lade  tributjl  L  ,?  ''';®.^^^^«ecting- 
The   denuncLtion?if''  ?  ™^es."      '"'^'"-^  ^^  ^^^^  Medical  dI 


1 


j.g  Southern  mtorkal  SooWi/  Papers. 

^^^^nd  one  of  the  most  eminent  savanso  fearful 

EttVdtr  Si" .:."«.  ;»■.-  "•  "■— ■• 
--Sal  iis-s^^^^^ 

nia  and  typnoia  it,\L  >  ,     ,    gygn  these  all  ^^^^  ^"^'  ,  /i,.vHrpd 

andVrench  armies,  dnrnig  ^^^f.  ^^"Xordinary  exertions  of  these 


Treatment  of  Prisoners  During  the  War.  177 

degree  the  mortality,  not  only  of  gunshot  wounds,  but  of  all  dis- 
eases, and  especially  of  pneumonia,  diarrhosa  and  dysentery.  I 
have  recorded  numerous  incontrovertible  facts  to  show  that  the 
scorbutic  ulcers  and  hospital  gangrene,  and  the  accidents  from 
vaccination  arising  at  Andersonville,  were  by  no  means  new  in  the 
history  of  medicine,  and  that  the  causes  which  induced  these  dis- 
tressing affections  have  been  active  in  all  wars  and  sieges,  and 
amongst  all  armies  and  navies. 

In  truth,  these  men  at  Andersonville  were  in  the  condition  of  a 
crew  at  sea — confined  on  a  foul  ship,  upon  salt  meat,  and  unvary- 
ing food,  and  without  fresh  vegetables.  Not  only  so,  but  these  un- 
fortunate prisoners  were  like  men  forcibly  confined  and  crowded 
upon  a  ship  tossed  about  on  a  stormy  ocean — without  a  rudder, 
without  a  compass,  without  a  guiding  star,  and  without  an  appa- 
rent boundary  or  end  to  their  voyage;  and  they  reflected  in  their 
steadily  increasing  miseries  the  distressed  condition  and  waning 
fortunes  of  a  desolated  and  bleeding  country,  which  was  compelled, 
in  justice  to  her  own  unfortunate  sons,  to  hold  their  men  in  this 
most  distressing  captivity. 

The  Federal  prisoners  received  the  same  rations,  in  kind,  quality 
and  amount,  issued  to  Confederate  soldiers  in  the  field.  These  ra- 
tions were,  during  the  last  eighteen  months  of  the  war,  insufficient, 
and  without  that  variety  of  fresh  meat  and  vegetables,  which  would 
ward  off  scurvy,  from  soldiers  as  well  as  prisoners.  As  far  as  my 
experience  extended,  no  body  of  troops  could  be  confined  exclu- 
sively to  the  Confederate  rations  of  1864  and  1865,  without  mani- 
festing symptoms  of  the  scurvy. 

The  Confederate  rations  grew  worse  and  worse  as  the  war  pro- 
gressed, and  as  portion  after  portion  of  the  most  fertile  regions  of 
the  Confederate  States  were  overrun  and  desolated  by  the  Federal 
armies.  In  the  straitened  condition  of  the  Confederate  States  the 
support  of  an  arnfy  of  one  hundred  thousand  prisoners,  forced  on 
their  hands  by  a  relentless  policy,  was  a  great  and  distressing  bur- 
den, which  consumed  their  scant  resources,  burdened  their  rotten 
lines  of  railroad,  and  exhausted  the  overtaxed  energies  of  the  entire 
country,  crowded  with  refugees  from  their  desolated  homes. 

The  Confederate  authorities  charged  witli  the  exchange  of  prisoners 
used  every  effort  in  their  power,  consistent  with  their  views  of 
national  honor  and  rectitude,  to  effect  an  exchange  of  all  prisoners 
in  their  hands,  and  to  establish  and  maintain  definite  rules  by 
which  all  prisoners  of  war  might  be  continuously  exchanged  as 
soon  as  possible  after  capture. 

Whatever  the  feelings  of  resentment  on  the  part  of  the  Confede- 
rates may  have  been  against  those  who  were  invading  and  desolating 
their  native  land,  which  had  been  purchased  by  the  blood  of  their 
ancestors  from  the  English  and  Indians,  the  desire  for  the  speedy 
exchange  and  return  of  the  great  army  of  veterans  held  captives  in 
Northern  prisons  was  earnest  and  universal,  and  this  desire  for 
speedy  and  continuous  exchange  on  the  part  of  the  Government, 

5 


178  Southern  Historical  Society  Papers. 

as  well  as  on  the  part  of  the  people,  sprang  not  merely  from  motives 
of  compassion  for  their  unfortunate  kindred  and  fellow-soldiers,  but 
also  from  the  dictates  of  that  policy  which  would  exchange  on  the 
part  of  a  weak  and  struggling  people,  a  large  army  of  prisoners 
(consumers  and  non-combatants,  requiring  an  army  for  their  safe 
keeping)  for  an  army  of  tried  veterans. 

Apart  from  the  real  facts  of  the  case,  it  is  impossible  to  conceive 
that  any  government  in  the  distressed  and  struggling  state  of  the 
Confederacy,  could  deliberately  advocate  any  policy  which  would 
deprive  it  of  a  large  army  of  veterans,  and  compel  it  to  waste  its 
scant  supplies,  already  insufficient  for  the  support  of  its  struggling 
and  retreating  armies. 

And  the  result  has  shown  that  the  destruction  of  the  Confederate  Gov- 
ernment ivas  accomplished  as  much  by  the  persistent  retention  in  captivity 
of  the  Confederate  soldiers,  as  by  the  emancipation  and  arming  of  the 
Southern  slaves,  and  the  employment  of  European  recruits. 

After  the  trial  of  Wirz,  I  published  a  small  volume,  entitled 
^^  Researches  upon  Spurious  Vaccination,  or  the  Abnormcd  PJienomena, 
accompanying  and  following  vaccination  in  the  Confedercde  army  during 
the  recent  civil  war,  1861-1865,"  in  which  I  examined  the  charge 
that  the  medical  officers  of  the  Confederate  army  had  deliberately 
poisoned  the  Federal  prisoners  with  poisonous  vaccine  matter. 

Copies  of  this  work  were  sent  to  several  of  the  most  prominent 
Generals  and  medical  officers  of  the  Confederate  army,  with  the 
request  that  they  would  communicate  such  facts,  as  were  in  their 
possession,  with  reference  to  the  sufferings  of  the  Federal  and  Con- 
federate prisoners.  The  universal  testimony  was  to  the  effect  that 
the  sufferings  of  the  Federal  prisoners  was  due  to  causes  over  which 
the  Confederate  Government  had  little  or  no  control,  and  that  the 
sufferings  and  mortality  amongst  the  Confederate  prisoners  confined 
in  Northern  prisons  were  equally  great  and  deplorable. 

From  this  correspondence,  1  select  the  following  letter  from 
General  Robert  E.  Lee : 


"Dr.  Joseph  Jones  : 


"Lexington,  Va.,  15tli  April,  18G7. 


"  Dear  Sir — I  am  much  obliged  to  you  for  the  copy  of  your 
'Researches  on  Spurious  Vaccination,^  which  I  will  place  in  the  library 
of  the  Lexington  College.  I  have  read  with  attention  your  ex- 
amination of  the  charge  made  by  the  United  States  IMilitary  Com- 
mission, that  the  Confederate  surgeons  poisoned  the  Federal  pris- 
oners at  Andersonville  with  vaccine  matter.  I  believe  every  one 
who  has  investigated  the  afflictions  of  the  Federal  prisoners  is  of 
the  opinion  that  they  were  incident  to  their  condition  as  prisoners 
of  war,  and  to  the  distressed  state  of  the  whole  Southern  country, 
and  I  fear  they  were  fully  shared  by  the  Confederate  prisoners  in 
Federal  prisons. 

"  Very  respectfully, 

''Your  obedient  servant,  R.  E.  Lee." 


Treatment  of  Prisoners  During  the  War.  179 

It  appears,  then,  from  the  foregoing  statements  that  the  prison  at 
Andersonville  was  established  with  a  view  to  healthfuhiess  of  loca- 
tion, and  that  the  great  mortality  which  ensued  resulted  chiefly 
from  the  crowded  condition  of  the  stockade,  the  use  of  corn  bread, 
to  which  the  prisoners  had  not  been  accustomed,  the  want  of  va- 
riety in  the  rations  furnished,  and  the  want  of  medicines  and  hos- 
pital stores  to  enable  our  surgeons  properly  to  treat  the  sick.  As 
to  the  first  point,  the  reply  is  at  hand.  The  stockade  at  Anderson- 
ville was  originally  designed  for  a  much  smaller  number  of  pri- 
soners than  were  afterwards  crowded  into  it.  But  prisoners  accu- 
mulated— after  the  stojDpage  of  exchange — in  Richmond  and  at 
other  points;  the  Dahlgren  raid — which  had  for  its  avowed  object 
the  liberation  of  the  prisoners,  the  assassination  of  President  Davis 
and  his  Cabinet,  and  the  sacking  of  Richmond — warned  our  autho- 
rities against  allowing  large  numbers  of  prisoners  to  remain  in 
Richmond,  even  if  the  difliculty  of  feeding  them  there  was  removed; 
and  the  only  alternative  was  to  rush  them  down  to  Andersonville, 
as  enough  men  to  guard  them  elsewhere  could  not  be  sj^ared  from 
the  ranks  of  our  armies,  which  were  now  everywhere  fighting  over- 
whelming odds.  We  have  a  statement  from  an  entirely  trustworthy 
source  that  the  reason  prisoners  were  not  detailed  to  cut  timber 
with  which  to  enlarge  the  stockade  and  build  shelters,  is,  that  this 
privilege  loas  granted  to  a  large  number  of  them  when  the  prison 
was  first  established,  they  giving  their  parole  of  honor  not  to  at- 
tempt to  escape ;  and  that  they  violated  their  pai'oles,  threiv  away  their 
axes,  and  spread  dismay  throughout  that  ivhole  region,  by  creating  the 
impression  that  all  of  the  lyrisoners  had  broken  loose.  This  experiment 
could  not,  of  course,  be  repeated,  and  the  rest  had  to  suffer  for  the 
bad  faith  of  these,  who  not  only  prevented  the  detail  of  any  num- 
bers of  other  prisoners  for  this  work,  but  made  way  with  axes  which 
could  not  be  replaced.  In  reference  to  feeding  the  jirisoners  on 
corn  bread,  there  has  been  the  loudest  complaints  and  the  bitterest 
denunciations.  They  had  not  been  accustomed  to  such  hard  fare 
as  "  hog  and  hominy,"  and  the  poor  fellows  did  suffer  fearfully 
from  it.  But  the  Confederate  soldiers  had  the  same  rations.  Our  sol- 
diers had  the  advantage  of  buying  supplies  and  of  receiving  occa- 
sional boxes  from  home,  which  the  prisoners  at  Andersonville 
could  have  enjoyed  to  an  even  greater  extent  had  the  United  States 
authorities  been  willing  to  accept  the  humane  proposition  of  our 
Commissioner  of  Exchange — to  allow  each  side  to  send  supplies 
tp  their  prisoners..    But  why  did  not  the  Confederacy  furnish  bet- 


180  Southern  Historical  Society  Papers. 

ter  rations  to  both  our  own  soldiers  and  our  prisoners?  and  why 
were  the  prisoners  at  Anderson ville  not  suppHed  with  ivheat  bread 
instead  of  corn  bread?  Answers  to  these  questions  may  be  abun- 
dantly found  by  referring  to  the  orders  of  Major-General  John 
Pope,  directing  his  men  "to  live  on  the  country";  the  orders  of 
General  Sherman,  in  fulfilling  his  avowed  purpose  to  "make 
Georgia  howl"  as  he  "smashed  things  generally"  in  that  "great 
march,"  Avhich  left  smoking,  blackened  ruins  and  desolated  fields  to 
mark  his  progress;  the  orders  of  General  Grant  to  his  Lieutenant, 
to  desolate  the  rich  wheat-growing  Valley  of  Virginia;  or  the  re- 
ports of  General  Sheridan,  boasting  of  the  number  of  barns  he  had 
burned,  the  mills  he  had  destroyed,  and  the  large  amount  of  wheat 
he  had  given  to  the  flames,  until  there  was  really  more  truth  than 
poetry  in  his  boast  that  he  had  made  the  Shenandoah  Valley  "  such  a 
waste  that  even  a  crow  flying  over  would  be  compelled  to  carry  his 
own  rations."  AVe  have  these  and  other  similar  orders  of  Federal 
Generals  in  our  archives  (we  propose  to  give  hereafter  a  few  choice 
extracts  from  them),  and  we  respectfully  submit  that,  for  the  South 
to  be  abused  for  not  furnishing  Federal  prisoners  with  better  ra- 
tions, when  our  own  soldiers  and  people  had  been  brought  pain- 
fully near  the  starvation  point  by  the  mode  of  warfare  which  the 
Federal  Government  adopted,  is  even  more  unreasonable  than  the 
course  of  the  old  Egyptian  task-masters,  who  required  their  captives 
to  "make  brick  without  straw."  And  to  the  complaints  that  the 
sick  did  not  have  proper  medical  attention,  we  reply  that  the  hos- 
pital at  Andersonville  was  placed  on  'preckehj  the  same  footing  as  the 
hosintalsfor  the  treatment  of  our  own  soldiers.  We  have  the  law  of  the 
Confederate  Congress  enjoining  this,  and  the  orders  of  the  Surgeon- 
General  enforcing  it.  Besides,  we  have  in  our  archives  a  large 
budget  of  original  orders,  telegrams,  letters,  &c.,  which  passed  be- 
tween the  ofliccrs  on  duty  at  Andersonville  and  their  superiors. 
We  have  carefully  looked  tlirough  this  large  mass  of  pai:)ers,  and 
we  have  been  unable  to  discover  a  single  sentence  indicating  that  the 
prisoners  were  to  be  treated  otherwise  than  kindly,  or  that  the  hos- 
pital was  to  receive  a  smaller  supply  of  medicines  or  of  stores  than 
the  hospitals  for  Confederate  soldiers.  On  the  contrary,  the  whole 
of  these  papers  go  to  show  that  the  prison  hospital  at  Andersonville 
was  on  the  same  footing  precisely  with  every  hospital  for  sick  or 
wounded  Confederates,  and  that  the  scarcity  of  medicines  and  hos- 
pital stores,  of  which  there  was  such  constant  complaint,  proceeded 
from  causes  which  our  authorities  could  not  control. 


Treatment  of  Prisoners  During  the  War.  181 

But  we  can  make  the  case  still  stronger.  Whose  fault  was  it 
that  the  Confederacy  was  utterly  unable  to  supply  medicines  for 
the  hospitals  of  either  friend  or  foe  ?  Most  unquestionably  the  re- 
sponsibility rests  with  the  Federal  authorities.  They  not  only 
declared  medicines  "contraband  of  war" — even  arresting  ladies 
coming  South  for  concealing  a  little  quinine  under  their  skirts — but 
they  sanctioned  the  custom  of  their  soldiers  to  sack  every  drug 
store  in  the  Confederacy  which  they  could  reach,  and  to  destroy 
even  the  little  stock  of  medicines  which  the  private  physician  might 
chance  to  have  on  hand. 

When  General  Milroy  banished  from  Winchester,  Virginia,  the 
family  of  Mr.  Lloyd  Logan,  because  the  General  (and  his  wife) 
fancied  his  elegantly  furnished  mansion  for  headquarters,  he  not 
only  forbade  their  carrying  with  them  a  change  of  raiment,  and 
refused  to  allow  Mrs.  Logan  to  take  one  of  her  spoons  with  which 
to  administer  medicine  to  a  sick  child,  but  he  most  emphatically 
prohibited  their  carrying  a  small  medicine  chest,  or  even  a  feiv  phials  of 
medicine  which  the  physician  had  prescribed  for  immediate  use.  Pos- 
sibly some  ingenious  casuist  may  defend  this  policy  ;  but  who  will 
defend  at  the  bar  of  history  the  refusal  of  the  Federal  authorities 
to  accept  Judge  Quid's  several  propositions  to  allow  surgeons  from 
either  side  to  visit  and  minister  to  their  own  men  in  prison — to 
allow  each  to  furnish  medicines,  &c.,  to  their  prisoners  in  the  hands 
of  the  other — and  finally  to  purchase  in  the  North,  for  gold,  cotton, 
or  tobacco,  medicines  for  the  exclusive  use  of  Federal  prisoners  in  the 
South  ?  Well  might  General  Lee  have  said  to  President  Davis, 
in  response  to  expressions  of  bitter  disappointment  when  he  re- 
ported the  failure  of  his  efforts  to  bring  about  an  exchange  of  pris- 
oners :  "  We  have  done  everything  in  our  power  to  mitigate  the  suffering  of 
prisoners,  and  there  is  no  just  cause  for  a  sense  of  further  responsibility  on 
our  party  Dr.  R.  Randolph  Stevenson,  who  was  for  most  of  the 
time  surgeon  in  charge  at  Andersonville,  has  in  MS.  a  large  volume 
on  this  whole  subject,  and  treats  fully  the  diseases  at  Andersonville, 
their  causes,  and  their  mortality.  He  has  kindly  tendered  us  the 
free  use  of  his  MS.  in  the  preparation  of  this  ]3aper,  but  we  do  not 
feel  that  it  would  be  right  to  anticipate  the  publication  of  his  book 
(which  it  is  hoped  Mali  not  be  long  delayed)  by  full  quotations 
from  it.  We  give,  however,  several  specimens  of  the  character  of 
the  papers  to  which  reference  is  made  above : 


182  Southern  Historical  Society  Papers. 

[Copy.] 

Surgeon-Generax's  Office, 
KiCHMOND,  Va.,  September  12,  1864. 

Sir — You  are  instructed  to  assign  the  medical  officers  now  on 
duty  with  the  sick  prisoners  at  Andersonville,  Georgia,  to  the  points 
that  have  been  selected  for  the  accommodation  of  the  prisoners. 
All  the  sick  whose  lives  will  not  be  endangered  by  transportation 
will  be  removed.  The  medical  officers  selected  will  be  required  to 
accompany  the  sick.  You  will  visit  each  station  and  see  that  such 
arrangements  are  made  for  the  sick  as  their  wants  may  require,  and 
use  all  the  means  for  their  comfort  that  the  Government  can  fur- 
nish. 

Very  respectfully, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

S.  P.  Moore,  Surgeon- General  C.  S.  A. 
To  I.  H.  AVhite,  Surgeon  C.  S.  M.  Prison  Hospital,  Andersonville^  Ga. 

[Copy.] 

Office  of  Surgeon  in  charge  C.  S.  M.  Hospital. 
Andersonville,  Ga.,  November  4,  1864. 

Colonel — Under  orders  from  Brigadier-General  John  H.  Winder^ 
I  respectfully  request  that  W.  H.  H.  Phelps,  of  your  post,  be  de. 
tailed  and  ordered  to  report  to  me  for  assignment  to  duty  as  pur 
chasing  agent  of  vegetables  and  anti-scorbutics  for  the  sick  and 
wounded  prisoners  now  under  my  charge  at  this  place. 
Yours  truly, 

R.  K.  Stevenson,  Surgeon  in  Charge. 
To  Colonel  Leon  Von  Zini^en,  Commanding  Post  Columbus,  Ga. 


Approved : 
Approved ; 


Endorsements. 

S.  M.  Bemiss,  Acting  Medical  Director. 

Leon  Von  Zinken,  Colonel  Commanding  Post. 
[Copy.] 


Office  Chief  Surgeon  C.  S.  M.  Pri.sons,  Georgia  and  Alabama. 
Camp  Lawton,  Ga.,  November  9,  1864. 

gij. —  *  *  *  -^Yg  have  been  quite  busy  for  the  last  two  days  in 
selecting  the  sick  to  be  exchanged.  After  getting  them  all  ready 
at  the  depot,  we  were  notified  by  telegraph  not  to  send  them,  and 
had  to  take  them  back  to  the  stockade.  Many  of  these  poor  fellows, 
already  broken  down  in  health,  will  succumb  through  despair. 

I  am,  very  respectfully, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

I.  H.  White,  Chief  Surgeon. 
To  Siirgeon  R.  R.  Stevenson,  in  charge  Post,  Andersonville,  Ga. 


Treatment  of  Prisoners  During  the  War.  183 

A  strong  point  illustrating  the  position  that  the  sickness  among 
the  prisoners  was  from  causes  which  the  Confederate  authorities 
could  not  control,  is  the  fact  that  the  Confederate  guard,  officers 
and  surgeons  were  attacked  by  the  same  maladies,  and  that  the 
deaths  among  them  were  about  as  numerous,  in  propotion  to  their 
numbers,  as  among  the  prisoners  themselves.  Dr.  Jones  states  in  his 
report,  that  the  deaths  among  the  Confederates  at  Andersonville 
from  tyj)hoid  and  malarial  fevers  were  more  numerous  than  among  the 
prisoners,  and  Dr.  Stevenson  makes  the  following  statement: 

"The  guards  on  duty  here  were  similarly  affected  with  gangrene 
and  scurvy.  Captain  Wirz  had  gangrene  in  an  old  wound,  which 
he  had  received  in  the  Battle  of  Manassas,  in  1861,  and  was  absent 
from  the  post  (Andersonville)  some  four  weeks  on  surgeon's  certifi- 
•cate.  {In  his  trial  certain  Federal  untnesses  swore  to  his  killing  certain 
prisoners  in  August,  1864,  ivhenhe  (Wirz)  was  actually  at  that  time abseiit 
on  sick  leave  in  Augusta,  Georgia.)  General  Winder  had  gangrene  of 
the  face,  and  was  forbidden  by  his  surgeon  (I.  H.  White)  to  go  in- 
side the  stockade.  Colonel  G.  C.  Gibbs,  commandant  of  the  post, 
had  gangrene  of  the  face,  and  was  furloughed  under  the  certificate 
of  Surgeons  Wible  and  Gore,  of  Americus,  Georgia.  The  writer 
of  thisxan  fully  attest  to  effects  of  gangrene  and  scurvy  contracted 
whilsV  on  duty  there;  their  marks  will  follow  him  to  his  grave. 
The  Confederate  graveyard  at  Andersonville  will  fully  prove  that 
the  mortality  among  the  guards  was  almost  as  great  in  proportion 
to  the  number  of  men  as  among  the  Federals." 

Again : 

"For  a  period  of  some  three  months  (July,  August  and  Septem- 
ber, 1864)  Captain  Wirz  and  those  few  faithful  medical  officers  of 
the  post  were  engaged  night  and  day  in  ministering  to  the  wants 
of  the  sick  and  dying,  and  caring  for  the  dead.  So  arduous  were 
their  duties  that  many  of  the  medical  officers  were  taken  sick  and 
had  to  abandon  their  post.  In  fact  the  pestilence  assumed  such 
fearful  proportions  that  Medical-Director  S.  H.  Stout  could  hardly 
induce  such  medical  men  as  could  be  spared  from  the  pressing 
wants  of  the  service  (Georgia  was  at  this  time  one  vast  hospital)  to 
go  to  Andersonville. 

"  It  was  this  horrible  condition  of  the  captives  that  prompted  Col- 
onel Ould,  the  Confederate  Commissioner  of  Exchange,  to  make 
his  repeated  efforts  in  the  interest  of  humanity  to  get  the  Federal 
Government  (as  they  had  refused  all  further  exchanges)  to  send 
medicines,  supplies  of  clothing,  &c.  (offering  to  pa}^  for  them  in 
gold  or  cotton),  for  the  exclusive  use  of  the  Federal  prisoners,  to 
be  dispensed,  if  desired,  by  Federal  surgeons  sent  for  that  purpose." 


184  Southern  Historical  Society  Papers. 

Let  us  follow  the  preceding  statements  by  the  following 

TESTIMONY   OF   THE   PRISONERS   THEMSELVES, 

In  reference  to  the  recent  discussion  in  Congress,  an  editor  in 
Mr.  Blaine's  own  State  (Maine)  says : 

"  In  all  the  talk  that  is  being  made  about  Andersonville  prison 
by  agitators  and  politicians  who  hope  to  profit  by  stirring  up  dead' 
animosities,  it  is  noticeable  that  no  evidence  is  produced  from  men 
who  were  prisoners  at  that  place.  In  order  to  get  the  views  and 
experiences  of  an  actutual  prisoner,  we  called  a  few  days  ago  upon. 
Mr.  John  F.  Frost,  whose  business  place  is  a  stone's  throw  from  our 
office.     Mr.  Frost  says : 

"'I  was  orderly  of  Captain  Fogler's  company,  Nineteenth  Maine; 
was  made  prisoner  at  Petersburg  in  June,  1864,  and  was  at  Ander- 
sonville eleven  months,  or  until  the  war  ended.  There  was  saffer- 
ing  among  the  men  who  were  sick,  from  the  lack  of  medicines  and 
delicacies,  but  all  had  their  rations  as  fully  and  regularly  as  did 
the  Confederate  guard.  There  were  times  of  scarcity,  when  supply 
trains  were  cut  off  by  the  Federal  forces;  and  at  such  times  I  have 
known  the  guard  to  offer  to  buy  the  prisoners'  rations,  being  very 
short  themselves.  On  these  occasions  the  guards  would  take  a 
portion  of  their  scanty  supplies  from  the  people  of  the  country  to 
feed  the  prisoners.  The  Kebels  were  anxious  to  effect  an  exchange 
and  get  the  prisoners  off"  their  hands,  but  it  was  rej^orted  and  be- 
lieved among  the  prisoners  that  the  Federal  authorities  refused. 
At  one  time  I  was  with  a  detail  of  three  thousand  prisoners  who 
were  marched  two  hundred  miles  to  the  coast  to  be  exchanged,  but 
it  was  declined  by  the  Federal  authorities,  as  was  reported,  and  we 
marched  back  with  no  enviable  feelings.  I  believe  that  the  larger 
share  of  the  responsibility  for  the  suffering  in  that  prison  belonged 
to  our  own  Government.  Wirz  was  harsh  and  cruel  to  the  pri- 
soners, and  deserved  hanging.  But  I  believe  the  Confederate  au- 
thorities did  as  well  as  they  could  for  the  prisoners  in  the  matter 
of  clothing,  provisions  and  medicines.' 

"This,  let  it  be  remembered,  is  not  the  talk  of  a  designing  poli- 
tician who  stayed  safely  at  home,  but  the  testimony  of  a  soldier  of 
good  record,  from  an  actual  experience  of  eleven  months  in  Ander- 
sonville prison." 

The  following  resolutions  were  adopted  by  the  prisoners: 

[Copy.] 

"Resolutions  that  were  adopted  by  the  Federal  prisoners  who 
had  been  confined  at  Andersonville,  and  dated  Savannah,  Septem- 
ber 23,  1864"  (see  United  States  Sanitary  Commission  Memoirs,, 
by  Professor  A.'  Flint,  New  York ) : 

*  *  *  ^^Rcsolvcd,  That  while  allowing  the  Confederate  Gov- 
vernment  all  due  praise  for  the  attention  paid  to  the  prisoners, 
numbers  of  our  men  are  consigned  to  early  graves,"  etc. 


Treatment  of  Prisoners  During  the  War.  185 

"Resolved,  That  fen  thousand  of  our  brave  comrades  have  descended 
into  untimely  graves,  caused  by  difference  in  climate,  food,  etc. 
And  whereas  these  difficulties  still  remain,  we  would  declare  our 
firm  belief  that  unless  we  are  speedily  exchanged  we  have  no  other 
alternative  but  to  share  the  same  lamentable  fate  of  our  comrades. 
*    *     Must  this  thing  still  go  on?     Is  there  no  hope?     *     *     *     * 

"Resolved,  *  *  *  "We  have  suflFered  patiently,  and  are  still 
willing  to  suffer,  if  by  so  doing  we  can  benefit  the  country;  but  we 
most  respectfully  beg  leave  to  say  that  we  are  not  willing  to  suffer 
to  further  the  ends  of  any  party  or  clique  to  the  detriment  of  our 
families  and  our  country. 

(Signed)  "  P.  Bradley, 

"Chairman  of  Committee  in  behalf  of  Prisoners^ 

We  give  the  following  full  extract  from  the  testimony  of  Prescott 
Tracy,  of  the  Eighty-second  Regiment  New  York  Volunteers,  be- 
fore the  United  States  Sanitary  Commission,  and  published  in  their 
report: 

"As  far  as  we  saw  General  Winder  and  Captain  Wirz,  the  former  was 
kind  arid  considerate  in  his  manners,  the  latter  harsh,  though  not  without 
kindly  feelings. 

"It  is  a  melancholy  and  mortifying  fact  that  some  of  our  trials  came 
from  our  o^vn  men.  At  Belle  Isle  and  Andersonville  there  were  among 
us  a  gang  of  desperate  men,  ready  to  prey  on  their  fellotvs.  Not  only 
thefts  and  robberies,  but  even  murders  were  committed.  Affairs  became 
so  serious  at  Camp  Sumter  that  an  appeal  ivas  made  to  General  W  inder, 
who  authorized  an  arrest  arid  trial  by  a  criminal  court.  Eighty-six  were 
arrested,  and  six  were  hung,  besides  others  who  ivere  severely  punished. 
These  proceedings  effected  a  marked  change  for  the  better. 

"  Some  few  weeks  before  being  released  I  was  ordered  to  act  as 
clerk  in  the  hospital.  This  consists  simply  of  a  few  scattered  trees 
and  fly  tents,  and  is  in  charge  of  Dr.  White,  an  excellent  and  con- 
siderate man,  with  very  limited  means,  but  doing  all  in  his  poiverfor  his 
patients.  He  has  twenty-five  assistants,  besides  those  detailed  to  examine 
for  admittance  to  the  hospital.  This  examination  was  made  in  a 
small  stockade  attached  to  the  main  one,  to  the  inside  door  of 
which  the  sick  came  or  were  brought  by  their  comrades,  the  num- 
ber to  be  removed  being  limited.  Lately,  in  consideration  of  the 
rapidly  increasing  sickness,  it  was  extended  to  one  hundred  and 
fifty  daily.  That  this  was  too  small  an  allowance  is  shown  by  the 
fact  that  tbe  deaths  within  our  stockade  were  from  thirty  to  forty 
a  day.  I  have  seen  one  hundred  and  fifty  bodies  waiting  passage 
to  the  'dead  house,'  to  be  buried  with  those  who  died  in  hospital. 
The  average  of  deaths  through  the  earlier  months  was  thirty  a  day. 
At  tbe  time  I  left,  the  average  was  over  one  hundred  and  thirty, 
I  and  one  day  the  record  showed  one  hundred  and  forty-six. 
I  "The  proportion  of  deatbs  from  starvation,  not  including  those 
consequent   on   the    diseases    originating    in    the    character   and 


1 


186  Southern  Historical  Society  Papers. 


limited  quantity  of  food — such  as  diarrhoea,  d_yseiitery  and  scurv}'' — 
I  cannot  state;  but,  to  the  best  of  my  knowledge,  information  and* 
belief,  there  were  scores  every  month.  We  could  at  any  time  point 
out  many  for  whom  such  a  fate  was  inevitable,  as  they  lay  or  feebly 
walked,  mere  skeletons,  whose  emaciation  exceeded  the  examples 
given  in  LesUe^s  Illustrated  for  June  18,  1864.  For  example:  in 
some  cases  the  inner  edges  of  the  two  bones  of  the  arms,  between 
the  elbow  and  the  wrist,  with  tlie  intermediate  blood  vessels,  were 
plainly  visible  when  held  toward  the  light.  The  ration,  in  quan- 
tity, was  perhaps  barely  sufficient  to  sustain  life,  and  the  cases  of 
starvation  were  generally  those  whose  stomachs  could  not  retain 
what  had  become  entirel}^  indigestible. 

"  For  a  man  to  find,  on  waking,  that  his  comrade  by  his  side  was 
dead,  was  an  occurrence  too  common  to  be  noted.  I  have  seen 
death  in  almost  all  the  forms  of  the  hospital  and  battle-field,  but 
the  daily  scenes  in  Camp  Sumter  exceeded  in  the  extremity  of 
misery  all  my  previous  experience. 

"r/ic  work  of  burial  is  performed  by  our  oivn  men,  under  guards  and 
orders,  twenty-five  bodies  being  placed  in  a  single  pit,  without 
head-boards,  and  the  sad  duty  performed  with  indecent  haste. 
Sometimes  our  men  Avere  rewarded  for  this  work  with  a  few  sticks 
of  firewood,  and  I  have  known  them  to  quarrel  over  a  dead  body 
for  the  job. 

^'Dr.  WJilte  is  able  to  give  the  patients  a  diet  hut  little  better  than  the 
prison  rations — a  little  flour  porridge,  arrow-root,  uihiskey,  and  wild  or 
hog  tomatoes.  In  the  way  of  medicine,  I  saw  nothing  hxd  camphor, 
ivhiskey,  and  a  decoction  of  some  kind  of  bark — white  oak,  I  think.  He 
often  expressed  Jus  regret  that  he  had  not  more  medicines.''^ 

We  beg  leave  to  call  especial  attention  to  the  passages  in  the 
above  extract  which  we  have  italicised,  and  which  are  very  signifi- 
cant in  testimony  which  was  gotten  up  to  prove  "  Rebel  barbarity." 

Another  Andersonville  prisoner  testifies  as  follows  before  the 
United  States  Congressional  Committee : 

"We  never  had  any  difficulty  in  getting  vegetables;  we  used  to 
buy  almost  anything  that  we  wanted  of  the  sergeant  who  called  the 
roll  mornings  and  nights.  His  name  was  Smith,  I  think;  he  was 
Captain  Wirz's  chief  sergeant.  We  were  divided  into  messes,  eight 
in  each  mess;  my  mess  used  to  buy  from  two  to  four  bushels  of 
sweet  potatoes  a  week,  at  the  rate  of  fifteen  dollars  Confederate 
money  per  bushel.  [They  got  twenty  dollars  of  Confederate  money 
for  one  dollar  of  greenbacks  in  those  days.]  Turnips  were  bought 
at  twenty  dollars  a  bushel.  We  had  to  buy  our  own  soap  for 
washing  our  own  persons  and  clothing;  we  bought  meat  and  eggs 
and  buiscuit.  There  seemed  to  be  an  abundance  of  those  things; 
they  were  in  the  market  constantl3%  That  sergeant  used  to  come 
down  with  a  wagon-load  of  potatoes  at  a  time,  bringing  twenty  or 
twenty-five  bushels  at  a  load  sometimes." 


Treatment  of  Prisoners  During  the  War.  187 

We  will  next  introduce  the  following 

STATEMENT   OF   GENERAL   J.  D.  IMBODEN. 

It  touches  on  points  which  we  have  already  discussed,  and  anti- 
cipates some  others  which  we  shall  afterwards  give  more  in  detail. 
But  it  is  a  clear  and  very  interesting  narrative  of  an  important  eye- 
witness; and  w^e  will  not  mutilate  the  paper,  but  will  give  it  entire 
in  its  original  form  : 

Richmond,  Va.,  January  12th,  1876. 
General  D.  H.  Mauby, 

Chairman  of  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  Southern  Historical  Society: 

General — At  your  request  I  cheerfully  reduce  to  writing  the  facts 
stated  by  me  in  our  conversation  this  morning,  for  preservation  in  the 
archives  of  your  society,  and  as  bearing  upon  a  historical  question — 
the  treatment  of  prisoners  during  our  late  civil  war,  which  it  seems 
certain  politicians  of  the  vindictive  type  in  the  North,  led  by  a 
Presidential  aspirant,  have  deemed  it  essential  to  their  party  suc- 
cess to  thrust  upon  the  country  again  in  the  beginning  of  this  our 
centennial  year. 

It  is  to  be  hoped  that  after  a  lapse  of  ten  years  since  we  of  the 
South  grounded  our  arms,  passion  has  so  far  jdelded  to  patriotism, 
reason,  and  sentiments  of  a  common  humanity  in  the  minds  and 
hearts  of  the  great  mass  of  intelligent  people  at  the  North,  that  all 
the  facts  relating  to  the  great  struggle  between  the  States  of  the 
North  and  South  may  be  calmly  presented,  if  not  for  final  decision 
by  this  generation,  at  least  to  aid  impartial. mankind  in  the  future 
to  judge  correctly  between  the  conquering  and  the  vanquished  parties 
to  the  contest;  and  to  fix  the  responsibility  where  it  attaches,  to 
the  one  side  or  the  other,  or  to  both,  for  sufferings  inflicted  that 
were  not  necessarily  incident  to  a  state  of  war  between  contending 
Christian  powers. 

I  now  proceed  to  give  you  a  simple  historical  narrative  of  facts 
within  my  personal  knowledge,  that  I  believe  have  never  been  pub- 
lished, although  at  the  request  of  Judge  Robert  Ould,  of  this  city, 
who  was  the  Confederate  Commissioner  for  the  Exchange  of  Pri- 
soners, I  wrote  them  out  in  1866,  and  furnished  the  MS.  to  a  re- 
porter of  the  New  York  Herald.  But  the  statement  never  appeared 
in  that  journal,  for  the  reason  assigned  by  the  reporter,  that  the 
conductors  of  the  Herald  deemed  the  time  inopportune  for  such  a 
publication.  My  MS.  was  retained  by  them,  and  I  have  never 
heard  of  it  since. 

It  is  perhaps  proper  to  state  how  I  came  to  be  connected  with 
the  prison  service  of  the  Confederate  States.  An  almost  fatal  attack 
of  typhoid  fever,  in  the  summer  and  fall  of  1864,  so  impaired  my 
physical  condition  that  I  was  incapable  of  performing  efficiently 
the  arduous  duties  of  my  position  as  a  cavalry  officer  on  active 
service  in  the  mountains  of  Virginia,  and  therefore  I  applied  to  the 


tl 


188  Southern  Historical  Society  Papers. 

Confederate  War  Office  for  assignment  to  some  light  duty  farther 
south  till  the  milder  weather  of  the  ensuing  spring  would  enable  me 
to  take  my  place  at  the  head  of  the  brave  and  hardy  mountaineers 
of  the  Valley  and  western  counties  of  Virginia  I  had  the  honor  to 
command.  General  R.  E,  Lee  kindly  urged  my  application  in 
person,  and  procured  an  order  directing  me  to  report  to  Brigadier- 
General  J.  H.  Winder,  then  Commissary  of  Prisoners,  whose  head- 
quarters were  at  Columbia,  South  Carolina.  I  left  my  camp  in  the  I 
Shenandoah  Valley  late  in  December,  1864,  and  reached  Columbia, ' 
I  think,  on  the  6th  of  January,  1865.  General  Winder  immediately 
ordered  me  to  the  command  of  all  the  prisons  west  of  the  Savannah 
river,  with  leave  to  establish  my  temporary  headquarters  at  Aiken, 
South  Carolina,  on  account  of  the  salubrity  of  its  climate.  I  can- 
not fix  dates  after  this  with  absolute  precision,  because  all  my  offi- 
cial papers  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  United  States  military  authori- 
ties after  the  surrender  of  General  Joseph  E.  Johnston  to  General 
Sherman;  but  for  all  essential  purposes  my  memory  enables  me 
to  detail  events  in  consecutive  order,  and  approximately  to  assign 
each  to  its  proper  date. 

A  few  days  after  receiving  my  orders  from  General  Winder,  I 
reached  Aiken,  and  visited  Augusta,  Georgia,  and  established  an  office 
there  in  charge  of  a  staff  officer,  Lieutenant  George  W.  McPhail, 
for  prompt  and  convenient  communication  with  the  prisons  of  the 
department. 

About  my  first  official  act  was  to  dispatch  Lieutenant-Colonel 
Bondurant  on  a  tour  of  inspection  of  the  prisons  in  my  department, 
with  instructions  to  report  fully  on  their  condition  and  management. 
Whilst  Colonel  Bondurant  was  on  this  service,  I  was  forced  to  quit 
Aiken  by  the  approach  of  Kilpatrick's  cavalry,  moving  on  the  flank 
of  Sherman's  army.  A  detachment  of  this  cavalry  reached  Aiken 
within  four  hours  after  I  left  it.  I  then  made  Augusta  my  per- 
manent headquarters,  residing,  however,  a  few  miles  out  on  the 
Georgia  railroad  at  13erzelia.  Colonel  Bondurant  promptly  dis- 
charged the  duty  assigned  to  him,  and  on  the  state  of  facts  presented 
in  his  reports,  I  resolved  to  keep  up  but  two  prisons,  the  one  at 
Andersonville  and  the  other  at  Eufaula.  I  did  this  for  economical 
reasons,  and  because  it  was  easier  to  supply  two  posts  tlian  four  or 
five  so  widely  scattered ;  and  besides  the  whole  number  of  prisoners 
in  the  department  then  did  not  exceed  8,0U0  or  9,000 — the  great 
majority,  about  7,500,  being  at  Andersonville.    • 

Before  I  received  Colonel  Bondurant's  re})ort.  General  Winder 
died,  when,  having  no  superior  in  command,  I  reported  directly  to 
the  Secretarj^of  War  at  Richmond.  Communication  with  the  War 
Office  was  at  that  period  very  slow  and  difficult.  Great  military 
operations  were  in  progress.  General  Sherman  was  moving  through 
the  Carolinas.  The  Federal  cavalry  under  Kilpatrick  with  Sherman, 
and  Stoneman  co-operoting  from  Tennessee,  almost  suspended  mail 
facilities  between  Georgia  and  Virginia,  and  the  telegraph  was 
almost  impracticable,  because  the  line  was  taxed  almost  to  its 


Treatment  of  Prisoners  During  the  War.  189 

capacity  in  connection  with  active  military  operations.  After  the 
death  of  General  Winder,  I  made  repeated  efforts  to  establish  com- 
munication with  the  Secretary  of  War,  and  with  Commissioner 
Ould,  and  obtain  some  instructions  in  regard  to  the  prisons  and 
prisoners  under  my  charge.  All  these  eff"orts  failed,  at  least  I  re- 
ceived no  reply  by  wire,  mail  or  messenger  to  any  of  my  inquiries. 
A  newspaper  fell  into  my  hands  in  which,  as  an  item  of  news,  I 
saw  it  stated  that  Brigadier-General  Gideon  J.  Pillow  had  been  ap- 
pointed General  Winder's  successor.  General  Pillow  was  then  at 
Macon,  but  had  received  no  official  notification  of  his  appointment, 
and  I  having  none,  could  not,  and  did  not,  recognize  him  as  entitled 
to  command  me,  but  cheerfully,  as  will  appear  further  on,  consulted 
him  in  regard  to  all  important  matters  of  administration. 

Colonel  Bondurant's  report  on  the  Anderson ville  prison,  taken  in 
connection  with  written  aiDplications  from  Captain  Wirz  which 
I  had  received,  suggesting  measures  for  the  amelioration  of  the 
condition  of  the  prisoners,  strongly  endorsed  and  approved  by 
Colonel  Gibbs,  an  old  United  States  army  officer,  a  cultivated,  urbane 
and  humane  gentleman,  commanding  the  post,  made  it  apparent 
to  my  mind  that  I  ought  to  make  a  personal  examination  into  its 
condition.  This  was  no  easy  undertaking,  as  I  had  to  travel  over 
almost  impassible  country  roads  through  the  desolated  belt  of 
country  traversed  by  Sherman's  army,  in  its  march  through 
Georgia,  for  a  distance  of  over -seventy  miles,  before  I  could  reach 
a  railroad  to  take  me  to  Andersonville.  I  made  the  journey,  how- 
ever, in  February.  " 

On  my  arrival  at  Andersonville,  unannounced  and  unexpected, 
I  made  an  immediate  personal  inspection  of  everything — not  only 
as  then  existing,  but  with  the  aid  of  the  post  and  prison  record,  I 
went  back  several  months,  to  the  period  when  the  mortality  was  so 
great,  to  ascertain,  if  possible,  its  cause. 

The  guard  then  on  duty  consisted  of  a  brigade  of  Georgia  State 
troops,  under  command  of  Brigadier-General  Gartrell.  The  post 
was  commanded  by  Colonel  Gibbs,  who,  as  before  stated,  was  an 
old  army  officer;  and  the  prison  proper  w^as  under  the  immediate 
command  of  Captain  Wirz,  who  w^as  tried  and  executed  at  Wash- 
ington, in  1865,  most  unjustly,  as  the  verdict  of  impartial  history 
will  establish ;  just  as  will  be  the  case  in  regard  to  Mrs.  Surratt's 
horrible  murder. 

The  officers  first  named,  and  all  others  on  duty  there,  aff'orded 
me  every  facility  to  prosecute  my  investigations  to  the  fullest  extent, 
and  were  prompt  to  point  out  to  me  measures  of  relief  that  were 
practicable.  I  went  within  the  stockade  and  conversed  with  many 
of  the  prisoners.  I  found  the  prison  and  its  inmates  in  a  bad  con- 
dition :  not  as  bad  as  our  enemies  have  represented,  yet  unfortu- 
nately bad.  The  location  of  the  stockade  was  good,  and  had  been 
judiciously  chosen  for  healthfulness.  It  occupied  two  gently  sloping 
hillsides,  with  a  clear  flowing  brook  dividing  them;  and  being  in 
the  sandy  portion  of  the  pine  woods  of  Georgia,  it  was  free  from 


190  Southern  Histoi'ical  Society  Papers. 

local  malaria,  and  had  the  benefit  of  a  genial  and  healthy  climate. 
It  was  of  sufhcient  capacity  for  from  8,000  to  9,000  prisoners,  without 
uncomfortable  crowding.  The  great  mortalit}^  of  tlie  previous  year, 
I  have  no  doubt,  resulted  in  part  from  an  excess  of  prisoners  over 
the  fair  capacity  of  the  stockade,  and  from  the  lack  of  sufficient 
shelter  from  the  sun  and  rain.  Before  my  arrival  at  Andersonvlle, 
Captain  Wirz  had,  by  a  communication  forwarded  through  Colonel 
Gibbs,  and  approved  by  him,  called  my  attention  to  the  great  de- 
ficiency of  shelter  in  the  stockade,  and  asked  authority  to  supply 
it.  He  had  made  a  similar  application,  I  was  informed,  to  General 
Winder  some  time  before,  but  it  had  not  been  acted  on  before  the 
General's  death.  In  consequence  of  this  want  of  buildings  and 
shedding  within  the  stockade,  the  prisoners  had  excavated  a  great 
many  subterranean  vaults  and  chambers  in  the  hillsides,  which 
many  of  them  occupied,  to  the  injury  of  their  health,  as  these 
places  were  not  sufficiently  ventilated. 

The  prisoners  were  very  badly  off'  for  clothing,  shoes  and  liats, 
and  complained  of  this  destitution,  and  of  the  quantity  and  kind 
of  rations — corn  bread  and  bacon  chiefly — issued  to  them.  I  found, 
what  I  anticipated,  that  we  had  no  clothing  to  give  them.  Many 
of  the  men  on  duty  as  guards  were  in  rags,  and  either  barefooted, 
or  had  their  feet  protected  with  worn  out  shoes  held  together 
with  strings  and  thongs,  and  in  lieu  of  overcoats  many  had  to  pro- 
tect themselves  against  inclement  weather  with  a  tattered  blanket 
drawn  over  the  shoulders.  Our  own  men  being  in  this  destitute 
condition,  it  can  be  well  understood  that  we  could  not  supply  a 
large  demand  for  clothing  prisoners. 

They  also  suffered  greatly,  and  there  had  been  great  mortality, 
for  want  of  suitable  medicines  to  treat  the  diseases  incident  to  their 
condition  with  any  considerable  success.  From  this  cause,  and 
this  alone,  I  have  no  doubt  thousands  died  at  Andersonville  in 
18G4,  who  would  be  living  to-day  if  the  United  States  Government 
had  not  declared  medicines  contraband  of  war,  and  by  their  close 
blockade  of  our  coasts  deprived  us  of  an  adequate  sup})W  of  those 
remedial  agents  that  therapeutical  science  and  modern  chemistry 
have  produced  for  the  amelioration  of  suffering  humanity.  The 
object  of  this  barbarous  decree  against  the  Confederacy,  it  is  now 
well  understood,  was  to  expose  our  soldiers,  as  well  as  our  wives, 
children  and  families,  without  protection  or  relief,  to  the  diseases 
common  in  our  climate,  and  to  make  us  an  easy  prey  to  death,  ap- 
proach us  in  what  form  he  might ;  not  foreseeing,  perhaps,  that 
W'hen  the  grim  monster  stalked  through  our  prisons  he  would  find 
not  alone  Confederates  for  his  victims,  but  the  stalwart  soldiers  of  the 
Government  which  had  invoked  his  aid  against  us.  At  the  time 
of  my  inspection,  there  was  a  good  deal  of  sickness  amongst  the 
prisoners,  but  not  a  large  percentage  of  mortality.  Our  medical 
officers,  even  with  their  scanty  pharmacopte,  gave  equal  attention  , 
to  sick  friends  and  enemies,  to  guard  and  to  prisoners  alike. 

I  investigated  particularly  the  food  question,  and  found  that  no 


Treatment  of  Prisoners  During  the  War,  191 

discrimination  was  made  in  the  issue  of  rations. to  guards  and  pri- 
soners. In  quantity,  quality  and  kind  the  daily  supply  was  ex- 
actly the  sanw,  man  for  man.  It  is  true  it  was  very  scanty,  con- 
sisting of  a  third  or  half  a  pound  of  meat  a  day,  and  usually  a  pint 
or  pint  and  a  half  of  corn  meal,  with  salt.  Occasionally  there  were 
small  supplies  of  wheat  flour,  and  sometimes  a  very  few  potatoes, 
but  they  were  rarely  to  be  had.  Other  vegetables  we  had  none. 
General  Lee's  army  in  Virginia  lived  but  little  if  any  better.  The 
food  was  sound  and  wholesome,  but  meagre  in  quantity,  and  not 
such  in  kind  and  variety  as  Federal  soldiers  had  been  accustomed 
to  draw  from  their  abundant  commissariat.  Our  soldiers  did  very 
well  on  "hog  and  hominy,"  and  rarely  complained.  The  Federals 
thought  it  horrible  to  have  nothing  else,  and  but  a  scanty  supply 
of  this  simple  food.  Great  scoundrelism  was  detected  amongst  the 
prisoners  in  cheating  each  other.  They  were  organized  in  compa- 
nies of  a  hundred  each  in  the  stockade,  and  certain  men  of  their 
own  selection  were  permitted  to  come  outside  the  stockade  and 
draw  the  rations  for  their  fellows,  and  cook  them.  Many  of  these 
rascals  would  steal  and  secrete  a  part  of  the  food,  and  as  opportu- 
nity offered  sell  it  at  an  exorbitant  rate  to  their  famished  comrades. 
Shortly  before  I  went  to  Andersonville  six  of  these  villains  were 
detected,  and  by  permission  of  the  prison  authorities  the  prisoners 
themselves  organized  a  court  of  their  own,  tried  them  for  the  offence, 
found  them  guilty,  and  hung  them  inside  the  stockade.  This  event 
led  to  a  change  in  the  mode  of  issuing  rations,  which  precluded 
the  possibility  of  such  a  diabolical  traffic  in  stolen  food. 

Bad  as  was  the  physical  condition  of  the  prisoners,  their  mental 
depression  was  worse,  and  perhaps  more  fatal.  Thousands  of  them 
collected  around  me  in  the  prison,  and  begged  me  to  tell  them 
whether  there  was  any  hope  of  release  by  an  exchange  of  prisoners. 
Some  time  before  that  President  Davis  had  permitted  three  of  the 
Andersonville  prisoners  to  go  to  Washington  to  try  and  change  the 
determination  of  their  Government  and  procure  a  resumption  of 
exchanges.  The  prisoners  knew  of  the  failure  of  this  mission  when 
I  was  at  Andersonville,  and  the  effect  was  to  plunge  the  great  ma- 
jority of  them  into  the  deepest  melancholy,  home-sickness  and 
despondency.  They  believed  their  confinement  would  continue 
till  the  end  of  the  war,  and  many  of  them  looked  upon  that  as  a 
period  so  indefinite  and  remote  that  they  believed  that  they  would 
die  of  their  sufferings  before  the  day  of  release  came.  I  explained 
to  them  the  efforts  we  had  made  and  were  still  making  to  effect  an 
exchange.  A  Federal  captain  at  Andersonville,  learning  that  I  had 
a  brother  of  the  same  rank  (Captain  F.  M.  Imboden,  of  the  Eigh- 
teenth Virginia  Cavalry)  incarcerated  at  Johnson's  Island,  in  Lake 
Erie,  where  he  was  in  a  fair  way  to  die  from  harsh  treatment  and 
a  lack  of  food,  represented  to  me  that  he  had  powerful  connections 
at  Washington,  and  thought  that  if  I  would  parole  him  he  could 
effect  his  exchange  for  my  brother,  and  perhaps  influence  a  deci- 
sion on  the  general  question  of  exchanges.     He  agreed  to  return  in 


192  Southern  Historical  Society  Papers. 

thirty  daj^s  if  he  failed.  I  accepted  his  terms,  and  with  some  diffi- 
culty got  him  through  the  lines.  He  foiled,  and  returned  within 
our  lines,  but  just  in  time  to  be  set  at  liberty  again,  as  Avill  appear 
further  on.  I  regret  that  I  have  forgotten  his  name,  and  have  no 
record  of  it. 

I  have  already  alluded  to  Captain  Wirz's  recommendation  to  put 
up  more  shelter.  I  ordered  it,  and  thereafter  daily  a  hundred  or 
more  prisoners  were  paroled  and  set  to  work  in  the  neighboring 
forest.  In  the  course  of  a  fortnight  comfortable  log  houses,  with 
floors  and  good  chimneys — for  which  the  prisoners  made  and  burnt 
the  brick — were  erected  for  twelve  or  fifteen  hundred  men,  and 
were  occupied  by  those  in  feeble  health,  who  were  "vyithdrawn  from 
the  large  stockade  and  separated  from  the  mass  of  prisoners.  This 
same  man  (Captain  Wirz),  who  was  tried  and  hung  as  a  murderer, 
warmly  urged  the  establishment  of  a  tannery  and  shoemaker's  shop, 
informing  me  that  there  were  many  men  amongst  the  prisoners 
skilled  in  these  trades,  and  that  some  of  them  knew  a  process  of 
very  rapidly  converting  hides  into  tolerably  good  leather.  There 
were  thousands  of  hides  at  Andersonville,  from  the  young  cattle 
butchered  during  the  previous  summer  and  fall,  whilst  the  country 
yet  contained  such  animals.  I  ordered  this,  too;  and  a  few  weeks 
later  many  of  the  barefooted  prisoners  were  supplied  with  rough,  but 
comfortable  shoes;  one  of  them  made  and  sent  to  me  a  jjair  that 
surprised  me,  both  by  the  quality  of  the  leather  and  the  style  of  the 
shoes.  Another  suggestion  came  from  the  medical  staff  of  the  post 
that  I  ordered  to  be  at  once  put  into  practice:  it  was  to  brew  corn 
beer  for  those  suffering  from  scorl)utic  taint.  The  corn  meal — or 
even  wdiole  corn — being  scalded  in  hot  water  and  a  mash  made  of 
it,  a  little  yeast  was  added  to  promote  fermentation,  and  in  a  few 
days  a  sharp  acid  beverage  was  produced,  by  no  means  unpalatable, 
and  very  wholesome.  Captain  Wirz  entered  warmly  into  this  en- 
terprise. I  mention  these  facts  to  show^  that  he  was  not  the  mon- 
ster he  was  afterwards  represented  to  be,  when  his  blood  was  called 
for  by  infuriate  fanaticism.  I  would  have  proved  these  facts  if  I 
had  been  permitted  to  testify  on  his  trial  after  I  was  summoned 
before  the  court  by  the  United  States,  and  have  substantiated  them 
by  the  records  of  the  prison  and  of  my  own  headquarters,  if  these 
records  were  not  destroyed,  supj^ressed  or  mutilated  at  the  time. 
But  after  being  kept  an  hour  in  the  court-room,  during  an  earnest 
and  whispered  consultation  between  the  President  of  the  court  and 
the  Judge-Advocate,  and  their  examination  of  a  great  mass  of 
papers,  the  contents  of  which  I  could  not  see,  I  was  politely  dis- 
missed without  examination,  and  told  I  would  be  called  at  another 
time;  but  I  never  was,  and  thus  Wirz  was  deprived  of  the  benefit 
of  my  evidence.  My  personal  acquaintance  with  Ca])tain  Wirz 
was  very  slight,  but  the  facts  I  have  alluded  to  satisfied  me  that  he 
■was  a  humane  man,  and  was  selected  as  a  victim  to  the  bloody 
moloch  of  1865,  because  he  was  a  foreigner  and  comparatively 
friendless.     I  put  these  facts  on  record  now  to  vindicate,  as  far  as 


Treatment  of  Prisoners  During  the  War.  193 

they  go,,  his  memory  from  the  monstrous  crimes  falsely  charged 
against  him.  No  such  charges  ever  reached  me,  whilst  I  was  in  a 
position  to  have  made  it  a  duty  to  investigate  them,  as  those  upon 
which  he  was  tried  and  executed.  He  may  have  committed  grave 
offences,  but  if  so,  I  never  knew  it,  and  do  not  believe  it. 

After  having  given  my  sanction  and  orders  to  carry  out  every 
suggestion  of  others,  or  that  occurred  to  my  own  mind  for  the 
amelioration  of  the  condition  of  the  prisoners  as  far  as  we  possessed 
the  means,  and  having  issued  stringent  orders  to  preserve  discipline 
amongst  the  guarding  troops,  and  subordination,  quiet  and  good 
order  amongst  the  prisoners,  I  went  to  Macon  to  confer  with  Gene- 
ral Howell  Cobb  and  General  Gideon  J.  Pillow  as  to  the  proper 
course  for  me  to  pursue  in  the  event  of  our  situation  in  Georgia 
becoming  more  precarious,  or  the  chance  of  communication  with 
the  Government  at  Richmond  being  entirely  cut  off,  which  ap- 
peared to  be  an  almost  certain  event  in  the  very  near  future.  After 
a  full  discussion  of  the  situation,  there  was  perfect  accord  in  our 
views.  General  Pillow  was  expecting  to  receive  official  notice  of 
his  appointment  as  Commissary  of  Prisons,  in  which  event  he 
would  become  my  commanding  officer.  General  Cobb  commanded 
the  State  troops  of  Georgia,  and  I  was  dependent  on  him  for  a 
sufficient  force  to  discharge  my  duties  and  hold  the  prisoners  in 
custody.  There  was  eminent  propriety,  therefore,  in  our  conferring 
with  each  other,  and  acting  harmoniously  in  whatever  course  might 
be  adopted.  General  Pillow  took  a  leading  part  in  the  discussion, 
and  in  shaping  the  conclusions  to' which  we  came.  In  the  absence 
of  official  information  or  instructions  from  Richmond,  we  acted 
upon  what  the  newspapers  announced  as  a  recently  established  ar- 
rangement with  General  Grant,  which  was,  in  effect,  that  either 
side  might  deliver  to  the  other  on  parole,  but  without  exchange, 
any  prisoners  they  chose,  taking  simply  a  receipt  for  them.  We 
had  no  official  information  of  any  such  agreement  from  our  Gov- 
ernment, but  it  was  regarded  b}^  us  as  very  probably  true,  and  we 
decided  to  act  upon  it.  The  difficulty  of  supplying  the  prisoners 
with  even  a  scanty  ration  of  corn  meal  and  bacon  was  increasing 
daily.  The  cotton  States  had  never  been  a  grazing  country,  and 
therefore  we  had  few  or  no  animals  left  there  for  food,  except  hogs.  • 
These  States  were  not  a  large  wheat  producing  region,  and  for  that 
reason  we  had  to  depend  mainly  on  corn  for  bread.  Salt  was 
scarce  and  hard  to  obtain.  Vegetables  we  had  none  for  army  pur- 
poses. We  were  destitute  of  clothing,  and  of  the  materials  and 
machinery  to  manufacture  it  in  sufficient  quantities  for  our  own 
soldiers  and  people.  And  the  Federal  Government,  remaining  deaf 
to  all  ai:)peals  for  exchange  of  prisoners,  it  was  manifest  that  the 
incarceration  of  their  captured  soldiers  could  no  longer  be  of  any 
possible  advantage  to  us,  since  to  relieve  their  sufferings  that  gov- 
ernment would  take  no  step,  if  it  involved  a  similar  release  of  our 
men  in  their  hands.  Indeed,  it  was  manifest  that  they  looked 
upon  it  as  an  advantage  to  them  and  an  injury  to  us  to  leave  their 

6 


194  Southe)'n  Historical  Society  Papers. 

prisoners  in  our  hands  to  eat  out  our  little  remaining  substance. 
In  view  of  all  these  facts  and  considerations,  Generals  Cobb  and 
Pillow  and  I  were  of  one  mind  that  the  best  thing  that  could  be 
done  was,  without  further  efforts  to  get  instructions  from  Rich- 
mond, to  make  arrangements  to  send  off  all  the  prisoners  we  had 
at  Eufaula  and  Andersonville  to  the  nearest  accessible  Federal  post, 
and  having  paroled  them  not  to  bear  arms  till  regularly  exchanged, 
to  deliver  them  unconditionally,  simply  taking  a  receij)t  on  descrip- 
tive rolls  of  the  men  thus  turned  over. 

In  pursuance  of  this  determination,  and  as  soon  as  the  necessary 
arrangements  could  be  made,  a  detachment  of  about  1,500  men, 
made  up  from  the  two  prisons,  was  sent  to  Jackson,  Mississippi,  by 
rail  and  delivered  to  their  friends.  General  "Dick"  Taylor  at  that 
time  commanded  the  department  through  which  these  prisoners 
were  sent  to  Jackson,  and  objected  to  any  more  being  sent  that 
way,  on  the  ground  that  they  would  pick  up  information  on  the 
route  detrimental  to  our  military  interests.  The  only  remaining 
available  outlet  was  at  Saint  Augustine,  Florida,  Sherman  having 
destroyed  railway  communication  with  Savannah.  Finding  that 
the  prisoners  could  be  sent  from  Andersonville  by  rail  to  the 
Chattahoochie,  thence  down  that  river  to  Florida,  near  Quincy, 
and  from  Quincy  by  rail  to  Jacksonville,  within  a  day's  march  of 
Saint  Augustine,  it  was  resolved  to  open  communication  with  the 
Federal  commander  at  the  latter  place.  With  that  view,  some- 
where about  the  middle  of  March,  Captain  Rutherford,  an  intelli- 
gent and  energetic  officer,  was  sent  to  Saint  Augustine.  A  few 
days  after  his  departure  for  Florida,  he  telegraphecl  from  Jackson- 
ville, "Send  on  the  prisoners."  He  had,  as  he  subsequently  re- 
ported, arranged  with  the  Federal  authorities  to  receive  them.  At 
once  all  were  ordered  to  be  sent  forward  who  were  able  to  bear  the  ■ 
journey.  Three  days'  cooked  rations  were  prepared,  and  so  benefi- 
cial to  health  was  the  revival  of  the  spirits  of  these  men  by  the 
prospect  of  once  more  being  at  liberty,  that  I  believe  all  but  twelve 
or  fifteen  reported  themselves  able  to  go,  and  did  go.  The  number 
sent  was  over  6,000.  Only  enough  officers  and  men  of  the  guard 
went  along  to  keep  the  prisoners  together,  preserve  order,  and  facil- 
itate their  transportation.  To  my  amazement  the  officer  command- 
ing the  escort  telegraphed  back  from  Jacksonville  that  the  Federal 
commandant  at  Saint  Augustine  refused  to  receive  and  receipt 
for  the  prisoners  till  he  could  hear  from  General  Grant,  who  was 
then  in  front  of  Petersburg,  Virginia,  and  with  whom  he  could  only 
communicate  by  sea  along  the  coast,  and  asking  my  instructions 
imder  the  circumstances.  Acting  without  the  known  sanction  of 
the  Government  at  Richmond,  I  was  afraid  to  let  go  the  prisoners 
without  some  official  acknowledgment  of  their  delivery  to  the 
United  States,  and  knowing  that  two  or  three  weeks  must  elapse 
before  General  Grant's  will  in  the  premises  could  be  made  known, 
and  it  being  impossible  to  subsist  our  men  and  the  prisoners  at 
Jacksonville,  I  could  pursue  but  one  course.     I   ordered  their 


Treatment  of  Prisoners  During  the  War.  195 

return  to  Andersonville,  directing  that  the  reason  for  this  unex- 
pected result  should  be  fully  explained  to  them.  Provisions  were 
hastily  collected  and  sent  to  meet  them,  and  in  a  few  days  all  were 
back  in  their  old  quarters.  I  was  not  there  on  their  return,  but  it 
was  reported  to  me  that  their  indignation  against  their  Govern- 
ment was  intense,  many  declaring  their  readiness  to  renounce  alle- 
giance to  it  and  take  up  arms  with  us.  The  old  routine  was  resumed 
at  Andersonville,  but  it  was  not  destined  to  continue  long. 

Before  any  further  communication  reached  me  from  Saint  Augus- 
tine, General  Wilson,  with  a  large  body  of  cavalry,  approached 
Georgia  from  the  West.  It  was  evident  that  his  first  objective  point 
was  Andersonville,  Again  conferring  with  Generals  Cobb  and 
Pillow,  and  finding  we  were  powerless  to  prevent  Wilson's  reaching 
Andersonville,  where  he  would  release  the  prisoners  and  capture 
all  our  officers  and  troops  there,  it  was  decided  without  hesitation 
again  to  send  the  prisoners  to  Jacksonville  and  turn  them  loose,  to 
make  the  best  of  their  way  to  their  friends  at  Saint  Augustine.  This 
was  accomplished  in  a  few  days,  the  post  at  Andersonville  was 
broken  up,  the  Georgia  State  troops  were  sent  to  General  Cobb  at 
Macon,  and  in  a  short  time  the  surrender  of  General  Johnston  to 
Sherman,  embracing  all  that  section  of  country,  the  Confederate 
prisons  ceased  to  exist,  and  on  the  od  of  May,  1865,  I  was  myself  a 
prisoner  of  war  on  parole  at  Augusta,  Georgia.  A  few  days  later  I 
was  sent  with  other  paroled  Confederates  to  Hilton  Head,  South 
Carolina,  where  I  met  about  2,000  of  the  Andersonville  prisoners, 
who  had  been  sent  up  from  Saint  Augustine,  to  be  thence  shipped 
North.  Their  condition  was  much  improved.  Many  of  them  were 
glad  to  see  me,  and  four  days  later  I  embarked  witli  several  hun- 
dred of  them  on  the  steam  transport  "Thetis"  for  Fortress  Monroe, 
and  have  reason  to  believe  that  every  man  of  them  felt  himself  my 
friend  rather  than  an  enemy. 

It  has  been  charged  that  Mr.  Davis,  as  President  of  the  Confede- 
rate States,  was  responsible  for  the  sufferings  of  prisoners  held  in 
the  South.  During  my  four  months'  connection  with  this  dis- 
agreeable branch  of  Confederate  military  service,  no  communication 
direct  or  indirect,  was  ever  received  by  me  from  Mr.  Davis,  and,  so 
far  as  I  remember,  the  records  of  the  prison  contained  nothing  to 
implicate  him  in  any  way  with  its  management  or  administration. 
I  have  briefly  alluded  to  the  causes  of  complaint  on  the  part  of 
prisoners,  and  even  where  these  were  well  founded,  I  am  at  a  loss 
to  see  how  Mr.  Davis  is  to  be  held  responsible  before  the  world  for 
their  existence,  till  it  is  proved  that  he  knew  of  them  and  failed  to 
remove  delinquent  officers. 

The  real  cause  of  all  the  protracted  sufferings  of  prisoners  North 
and  South  is  directly  due  to  the  inhuman  refusal  of  the  Federal 
Government  to  exchange  prisoners  of  war,  a  policy  that  we  see 
from  the  facts  herein  stated  was  carried  so  far  as  to  induce  a  com- 
manding officer,  at  Saint  Augustine,  to  refuse  even  to  receive,  and 
acknowledge  that  he  had  received,  over  6,000  men  of  his  own  side, 


196  Southern  Historical  Society  Papers. 

tendered  to  liim  unconditionally,  from  that  prison  in  the  South 
which,  above  all  others,  they  charged  to  have  been  the  scene  of  Un- 
usual suffering.  The  inference  is  irresistible  that  this  officer  felt 
that  it  would  be  dangerous  to  his  official  character  to  relieve  the 
Confederacy  of  the  burthen  of  supporting  these  prisoners,  although 
he  and  his  countrymen  afiected  to  believe  that  we  were  slowl}'' 
starving  them  to  death.  The  policy  at  Washington  was  to  let 
Federal  prisoners  starve,  if  the  process  involved  the  Confederates 
in  a  similar  catastrophe — and  "fired  the  Northern  heart." 

I  have  introduced  more  of  my  personal  movements  and  actions 
into  this  recital  than  is  agreeable  or  apparently  in  good  taste,  but 
it  has  been  unavoidable  in  making  the  narrative  consecutive  and 
intelligible,  and  I  trust  wall  be  pardoned,  even  if  appearing  to 
transcend  the  bounds  of  becoming  modesty.  In  the  absence  of  all 
my  official  papers  relating  to  these  subjects  (which  I  presume  were 
taken  to  Washington  after  I  surrendered  them,  and  are  still  there, 
unless  it  was  deemed  policy  to  destroy  them  when  Captain  Wirz  was 
on  trial),  I  have  not  been  able  to  go  into  many  minute  details  that 
might  add  interest  to  the  statement,  but  notliing,  I  think,  to  the  lead- 
ing fact — that  the  United  States  refused  an  unconditional  delivery  of 
so  many  of  its  own  men,  inmates  of  that  prison  (Andersonville), 
which  they  professed  then  to  regard  as  a  Confederate  slaughter-pen 
and  place  of  intentional  diabolical  cruelties  inflicted  on  the  sick 
and  helpless.  Was  this  course  not  a  part  of  a  policy  of  deception 
for  "firing  the  Northern  heart"?  Impartial  history  will  one  day 
investigate  and  answer  this  question.  And  there  we  may  safely 
leave  it,  with  a  simj)le  record  of  the  facts. 

Very  truly,  3'our  friend, 

J.  D.  I.MBODEN. 

The  above  documents  seem  to  us  to  show  be3'ond  all  controversy 
that  whatever  suffering  existed  at  Andersonville  (and  it  is  freely 
admitted  that  the  suffering  was  terrible),  resulted  from  causes 
which  were  beyond  the  control  of  the  Confederate  Government,  and 
were  directly  due  to  the  cold-blooded,  cruel  policy  of  the  Federal 
authorities,  which  not  only  refused  to  exchange  prisoners,  but  re- 
jected every  overture  to  mitigate  their  sufferings. 

The  Federal  Government  has  had  possession  of  the  Confederate 
archives  for  now  nearly  eleven  years.  The  Confederate  leaders  and 
their  friends  have  been  denied  all  access  to  those  archives,  while 
partisans  on  the  other  side  have  ransacked  them  at  will  in  eager 
search  for  every  sentence  which  could  be  garbled  out  of  its  connec- 
tion to  prove  the  charges  made,  with  reckless  disregard  of  the  truth, 
against  the  "  Kebel  crew."  It  is  fair  to  presume  that  those  records 
contain  no  stronger  proof  of  "  Rebel  cruelty  to  prisoners  "  than  has 
already  been  brought  to  light,  while  some  of  us  are  fondly  hoping 


Treatment  of  Prisoners  During  the  War.  197 

that  before  the  next  Centennial  the  people  of  the  South  will  have 
the  vindication  which  the  records  of  the  Confederacy  afford.  The 
strongest  proof  of  the  charges  made  against  the  Confederate  Gov- 
ernment which  has  yet  been  produced  from  those  records  is  the 

REPORT   OF   COLONEL   D.  T.  CHANDLER, 

which  was  introduced  at  the  Wirz  trial,  and  upon  which  the  Radical 
press  has  been  ringing  the  charges  ever  since.  It  has  been  recently 
thus  put  in  a  malignant  reply,  in  a  partisan  sheet,  to  Mr.  Davis' 
letter  to  Mr.  Lyons  : 

On  the  5th  day  of  August,  1864,  Colonel  Chandler,  an  officer  of 
the  Confederate  army,  made  a  report  to  the  Rebel  War  Department 
regarding  the  condition  of  Andersonville  jjrison.  He  had  made 
one  six  months  before,  but  no  attention  had  been  paid  to  it.  In 
his  last  report  he  said : 

"My  duty  requires  me  respectfully  to  recommend  a  change  in  the 
officer  in  the  command  of  the  post,  Brigadier- General  J.  H.  Win- 
der, and  the  substitution  in  his  place  of  some  one  who  unites  both 
energy  and  good  judgment  with  some  feeling  of  humanity  and 
consideration  for  the  welfare  and  comfort  (so  far  as  it  is  consistent 
with  their  safe-keeping)  of  the  vast  number  of  unfortunates  placed 
under  his  control ;  some  one  ivho  at  least  will  not  advocate  deliberately 
and  in  cold  blood  the  propriety  of  leaving  them  in  their  present  condition 
until  their  number  has  been  sufficiently  reduced  by  death  to  make  the  pre- 
sent arrangement  sifficefor  their  accommodation;  who  will  not  con- 
sider it  a  matter  of  self-laudation  and  boasting  that  he  has  never 
been  inside  of  the  stockade,  a  place  the  horrors  of  tvhich  it  is  difficult 
to  describe,  and  which  is  a  disgrace  to  civilization,  the  condition  of 
which  he  might,  by  the  exercise  of  a  little  energy  and  judgment, 
even  with  the  limited  means  at  his  command,  have  considerably 
improved. 

"  D.  T.  Chandler, 
^^Aisistant  Adjutant  and  Inspector- General^ 

This  report  was  forwarded  to  the  Secretary  of  War  with  the 
following  endorsement: 

"Adjutant  and  Inspector-General's  Office, 

"August  IS,  1864. 

"  Respectfully  submitted  to  the  Secretary  of  War.  The  condition 
of  the  prison  at  Andersonville  is  a  reproach  to  us  as  a  nation.  The 
Engineer  and  Ordnance  Departments  were  applied  to,  and  authorized 
their  issue,  and  I  so  telegraphed  General  Winder.  Colonel  Chan- 
dler's recommendations  are  coincided  in. 
"  By  order  of  General  Cooper. 

"R.  H.Chilton, 
''^Assistant  Adjutant  and  Inspector-General." 


198  Southern  Historical  Society  Papers. 

Not  content  with  this,  Colonel  Chandler  testifies  that  he  went  to 
the  War  Office  himself,  and  had  an  interview  with  the  Assistant 
Secretar}^,  J.  A.  Campbell,  who  then  wrote  below  General  Cooper's 
•endorsement  the  following : 

"These  reports  show  a  condition  of  things  at  Anderson ville,  which 
calls  very  loudly  for  the  interposition  of  the  Department,  in  order 
that  a  change  may  be  made. 

"  J.  A.  Campbell, 
^^ Assistant  Secretary  of  War.'''' 

Thus  was  the  horrible  condition  of  things  at  Andersonville 
brought  home  to  the  Secretary  of  "War,  one  of  the  confidential  ad- 
visers of  the  President,  who  was  daily  in  consultation  with  him. 
If  all  was  being  done  for  the  prisoners  that  could  be  done,  how 
came  such  reports  to  be  made?  But  what  was  the  result?  A  few 
days  after  this  report  was  sent  in.  Winder,  the  beast,  the  cruel, 
heartless  coward — the  man  of  whom  the  Richmond  Examiner  said, 
when  he  was  ordered  from  that  city  to  Andersonville,  "Thank  God 
that  Richmond  is  at  last  rid  of  old  Winder;  God  have  mercy  upqn 
those  to  whom  he  has  been  sent" — this  man  was  promoted  by  Mr. 
Davis,  and  made  Commissary-General  of  all  the  prisons  and  pris- 
oners in  the  Confederacy.  We  come  now  to  a  question  which  we 
challenge  Mr.  Davis  to  answer.  Did  he  know  of,  or  had  his  atten- 
tion been  called  to,  Colonel  Chandler's  report  when  he  promoted 
General  AVinder?  Dare  he  deny  having  made  this  latter  appoint- 
ment as  a  reward  to  W^inder  for  his  faithful  services  at  Anderson- 
ville? 

A  writer  in  the  Sauk  Rapids  Sentinel  adds  the  statement  (which 
is  certainly  news  in  this  latitude)  that  upon  this  report  General 
Winder  was  "indignantly  removed  by  the  Secretary  of  War,"  and 
that  when  he  carried  the  order  removing  him  to  the  President  he 
not  onl}^  reinstated  him,  but  "immediately  added  to  his  power 
and  opportunities  for  barbarity,  by  promoting  him  to  the  office  of 
Commissary-General  of  all  of  the  prisons  and  prisoners  of  the 
Southern  Confederacy."  This  is,  indeed,  a  terrible  arraignment  of 
Mr.  Davis,  if  it  were  true,  but.  there  is  really  not  one  word  of  truth  in 
any  statement  of  that  character.  Mr.  Davis  not  only  never  saw  Colo- 
nel Chandler'' s  report,  but  absolutely  never  heard  of  it  until  last  year. 

We  are  fortunate  in  being  able  to  give  a  clear  statement  of  the 
history  of  Colonel  Chandler's  report,  and  to  show  that  so  far  from 
being  proof  of  any  purposed  cruelty  to  prisoners  on  the  part  of 
the  Confederate  Government,  the  circumstances  aftbrd  the  strongest 
proof  of  just  the  reverse. 

We  inclosed  the  slip  from  the  Sauk  Rapids  Sentinel  to  Hon.  R.  G. 
H.  Kean,  who  was  chief  clerk  of  the  Confederate  War  Dei)artment. 


Treatment  of  Prisoners  During  the  War.  199 

We  may  say  (for  the  benefit  of  readers  in  other  sections ;  it  is  en- 
tirely unnecessary  in  this  latitude),  that  Mr.  Kean  is  now  Rector 
of  the  University  of  Virginia,  and  is  an  accomplished  scholar  and 
a  high-toned  Christian  gentleman,  whose  lightest  word  may  be 
implicitly  relied  ujDon.  Mr.  Kean  has  sent  us  the  following  letter, 
•which,  though  hastily  written  and  not  designed  for  publication, 
gives  so  clear  a  history  of  this  report  that  we  shall  take  the  liberty 
-of  publishing  it  in  full : 

Letter  of  Hon.  R.  i}.  H.  Kean,  Chief  Clerk  of  the  Confederate  War 

Department. 

Lynchburg,  Va.,  March  22,  1876. 
Kev.  J.  "William  Jones, 

Secretary  Southern  Historical  Society  : 

My  Dear  Sir — Yours  of  the  20th  is  received  this  A.  M.,  and  I 
snatch  the  time  from  the  heart  of  a  busy  day  to  reply  immediatelyj 
because  I  feel  that  there  is  no  more  imperious  call  on  a  Confederate 
than  to  do  what  he  may  to  hurl  back  the  vile  official  slanders  of 
the  Federal  Government  at  Washington  in  1865,  when  Holt,  Cono- 
ver  &  Co.,  with  a  pack  of  since  convicted  perjurers,  were  doing  all 
in  their  power  to  blacken  the  fame  of  a  people  whose  presence  they 
have  since  found  and  acknowledged  to  be  indispensable  to  any 
semblance  of  purity  in  their  administration  of  affairs. 

In  September,  1865,  I  was  required  by  the  then  commandant  at 
Charlottesville  to  report  immediately  to  him.  The  summons  was 
brought  to  me  in  the  field,  where  in  my  shirt  sleeves  I  was  assist- 
ing in  the  farming  operations  of  m}^  father-in-law.  Colonel  T.  J.  Ran- 
dolph, and  his  eldest  son.  Major  T.  J.  Randolph.  I  obeyed,  and  was 
sent  by  the  next  train  to  report  to  General  Terry,  then  in  command 
in  Richmond.  He  informed  me  that  I  was  wanted,  and  had  long 
been  sought  for,  to  testify  before  the  Commission  engaged  in  trying 
Wirz,  and  I  was  sent  to  Washington  by  the  next  train.  I  attended 
promptly,  but  it  was  two  or  three  days  before  I  was  examined  as  a 
witness.  When  I  was,  a  paper  taken  from  the  records  of  our  War 
Office  was  shown  me — the  report  of  Lieutenant-Colonel  Chandler 
of  his  inspection  of  the  post  at  Andersonville.  .  I  remembered  the 
paper  well.  This  writer  in  the  Sauk  Rapids  Sentinel  is  in  error  when 
he  says  this  report  was  "delivered  in  person  to  the  Confederate 
Assistant  Secretary  of  War."  It  had  been  sent  through  the  usual 
channels,  and  reaching  the  hands  of  Colonel  R.  H.  Chilton,  Assist- 
ant Inspector-General,  in  charge  of  the  inspection  branch  of  the 
Adjutant  and  Inspector-General's  bureau,  was  brought  into  the  War 
Office  by  Colonel  Chilton  and  placed  in  my  hands,  with  the 
endorsement  quoted  by  this  writer,  or  something  to  that 
effect.  Colonel  Chilton  explained  to  me  that  the  report  dis- 
closed such  a  state  of  things  at  Andersonville,  that  he  had 
"brought  it  to  me,  in  order  that   it  might   receive   prompt   atten- 


200  Southern  Historical  Society  Papers. 

tion,  instead  of  sending  it  through  the  usual  routine  channel. 
I  read  it  immediately,  and  was  shocked  at  its  contents.  I  do  not 
remember  the  passage  quoted  by  this  writer,  but  I  do  remember 
that  it  showed  that  the  32,000  men'  herded  in  the  stockade  at  An- 
dersonville  were  dying  of  scurvy  and  other  diseases  engendered  by 
their  crowded  condition  and  insufficient  supplies  of  medicines, 
suitable  food,  and  medical  attendance,  at  the  rate  of  ten  per  cent., 
or  about  3,000  a  month.  Shocked  at  such  a  waste  of  human  life, 
produced  by  the  fraudulent  refusal  to  observe  the  cartel  for  ex- 
change of  prisoners,  whom  we  had  neither  the  force  to  guard  in  a 
large  enclosure,  nor  proper  food  for  when  sick,  nor  medicines,  save 
such  as  we  could  smuggle  into  our  ports  or  manufacture  from  the 
plants  of  Southern  growth,  I  took  the  report  to  Judge  Campbell, 
Assistant  Secretary  of  War,  and  told  him  of  the  horrors  it  disclosed. 
He  read  it,  and  made  on  it  an  endorsement  substantially  the  same 
quoted,  and  carried  it  to  Mr.  Seddon,  then  Secretary  of  Vv^ar.  My 
office  was  between  that  of  the  Assistant  Secretary  and  the  Secre- 
tary, and  the  latter  passed  through  mine  with  the  paper  in  his 
hand.  I  testified  to  these  facts  before  the  Wirz  Commission,  and 
also  to  this  further.  As  well  as  I  remember  it  was  early  in  August 
that  these  endorsements  were  made.  In  October,  Colonel  Chandler, 
who  was,  I  think,  a  Mississippian,  and  Avith  whom  I  had  no  pre- 
vious acquaintance,  presented  himself  in  my  office,  and  stated 
to  me  that  he  had  been  officially  informed  that  General  ^^^inder, 
on  being  called  on  in  August  for  a  response  to  the  parts  of  his  re- 
port which  reflected  on  or  blamed  him  (Winder),  had  responded 
by  making  an  issue  of  veracity  with  him  (Chandler);  that  he  (C.) 
had  promj)tly  demanded  a  court  of  inquiry,  but  that  none  had 
been  ever  ordered.  He  expressed  himself  as  very  unwilling  to  lie 
under  such  an  imputation,  and  urgently  desirous  to  have  the  sub- 
ject investigated.  His  appearance  and  manner  were  very  good — 
those  of  a  gentleman  and  a  man  of  lienor ;  and,  in  sympathy  with 
his  feelings  (though  I  told  him  that  it  was  extremely  improbable 
that  officers  of  suitable  rank  could  be  spared  from  the  service  to 
conduct  such  an  investigation  at  that  time),  I  told  him  I  would  call 
the  attention  of  the  Secretary  to  the  matter.  Accordingly  I  got  the  re- 
port, and  placing  around  it  a  slip  of  paper  in  the  usual  official  man- 
ner, I  endorsed  to  this  effect:  "Lieutenant-Colonel  Chandler  is  here 
in  person,  urging  that  a  court  of  inquiry  be  named  to  investigate  the 
issues  between  him  and  General  Winder  touching  this  report.  He 
seems  to  feel  his  position  painfully" — addressed  to  the  Secretary 
of  War.  Mr.  Seddon  told  me  afterwards  that  in  the  then  state  of 
things  it  was  impossible  to  spare  officers  of  suitable  rank — so 
many  were  prisoners  that  the  supply  in  the  field  was  insufficient, 
or  to  that  efiect — and  Colonel  Chandler  was  so  informed,  either  by 
me  in  person  or  by  letter.  This  endorsement  of  mine,  dated  in 
October,  1864,  was  the  thing  which  connected  me  with  the  report,  and 
caused  me  to  be  summoned  to  Washington  to  trace  it  into  the  hands 
of  the  Secretary  of  War.    The  effort  was  assiduously  made  by  Colonel 


Treatment  of  Prisoners  During  the  War.  201 

L.  R.  Chipman,  the  Judge-Advocate  of  the  Wh'z  Commission,  to 
show  by  me  that  this  report  was  seen  by  President  Davis,  but  that 
effort  failed,  because  I  knew  nothing  on  that  subject.  Tliis  was 
substantially  all  that  I  knew  of  my  own  knowledge,  and  so  was 
competent  to  prove  as  a  witness,  in  resj^ect  to  the  report.  But  very 
much  more  came  to  my  knowledge  as  hearsay,  not  competent 
legally,  yet  as  credible  as  what  I  knew  directly. 

My  observations,  during  the  several  days  I  was  in  attendance 
and  watching  the  proceedings  of  the  Commission,  convinced  me — : 
whether  rightly  or  wrongly  subsequent  events  have  in  some  de- 
gree developed — that  the  destruction  of  Wirz  was  a  very  subordi- 
nate object  of  his  so-called  trial;  that  the  main  objects  were  to 
blacken  the  character  of  the  Southern  Government,  and,  as  I 
thought,  to  compass  the  death  of  Mr.  Davis  and  Mr.  Seddon,  who 
were  not  technically  on  trial,  but  were  alleged  to  have  "  conspired" 
with  Wirz  and  others  to  kill  and  murder  the  Federal  prisoners,  &c. 
One  was  immured  in  irons  in  a  casemate  of  Fortress  Monroe,  the  other 
was  in  a  casemate  in  Fort  Pulaski.  Believing  that  their  lives  were 
in  danger,  I  sought  Mr.  L.  Q.  Washington,  who  was  then  in  Wash- 
ington, and  communicated  to  him  the  apprehensions  I  felt,  and 
urged  him  to  communicate  them  to  Mr.  Seddon's  friends,  with 
whom  I  knew  him  to  be  intimate.  I  learned  that  he  did  so;  and 
Mrs.  Seddon  sent  Captain  Phillip  Welford,  a  gentleman  of  great 
intelligence,  to  Washington  to  see  what  was  best  to  be  done  to  pro- 
tect her  helpless  husband,  who  was  being  prosecuted  while  a  pri- 
soner six  hundred  miles  away.  The  result  of  Captain  Welford's 
investigations  and  conferences  with  friends  in  Washington,  was 
that  it  was  not  deemed  judicious  for  Mr.  Seddon  to  be  represented 
directly  by  counsel,  but  that  he  should  place  his  materials  of  de- 
fence and  explanation  touching  the  Chandler  report  in  the  hands 
of  Wirz's  counsel ;  and  this  was  done.  The  Government  had  gone 
into  all  this  matter,  and  the  response,  therefore,  on  every  principle 
of  fair  dealing  or  of  law,  was  legitimate  in  that  cause.  Colonel  Robert 
Ould  and  General  J.  E.  Mulford,  therefore,  were  summoned  to  show 
what  the  action  of  the  Confederate  Government  on  Colonel  Chan- 
dler's report  was.  Judge  Ould  attended,  and  General  Mulford  was 
prepared  to  do  so  and  to  corroborate  him.  Judge  Ould,  as  Mr. 
Welford  informed  me,  unless  my  memory  is  at  fault,  was  prepared  to 
state  that  as  soon  as  Colonel  Chandler's  report  was  presented  to 
Mr.  Seddon,  the  latter  sent  for  him  and  showed  the  terrible  mor- 
tality prevailing  at  Andersonville,  instructed  him  to  go  down  James 
river  at  once  with  his  flag-of-truce  boat,  see  General  Mulford,  inform 
him  of  the  state  of  things  there;  that  its  causes,  by  reason  of  the 
blockade,  were  beyond  our  resources  to  prevent;  bvit  that  we  were 
unwilling  that  the  breach  of  the  cartel  should  entail  such  suffering; 
and  to  propose  that  the  Federals  might  send  as  many  medical  offi- 
cers to  Andersonville  and  other  prisons  as  they  pleased,  with  such 
supplies,  and  funds,  medicine,  clothing,  and  whatever  else  would 
conduce  to  health  and  comfort,  with  power  to  organize  their  own 


1 


202  Southern  Historical  Society  Papers. 


methods  of  distribution,  and  without  other  restriction  than  a  per- 
sonal parole  of  honor  not  to  convey  information  prejudicial  to  us, 
on  condition  that  we,  too,  should  be  allowed  to  relieve  the  sufferings 
of  our  men  in  Northern  prisons  by  sending  medical  officers  with 
like  powers,  who  should  take  cotton  (the  only  exchange  we  pos- 
sessed) to  buy  supplies  necessary  for  our  people;  that  this  was  im- 
mediately communicated  early  in  August,  1864,  to  General  Mul- 
ford,  who  was  informed  of  the  state  of  things  at  Andersonville; 
that  he  communicated  this  proposition  to  his  immediate  superiors, 
and  had  no  answer  for  some  two  or  three  weeks,  and  when  the 
answer  came  it  was  a  simple  refusal;  that  General  INIulford 
promptly  communicated  this  to  Judge  Ould,  and  he  to  Mr.  Sed- 
don;  that  immediately  thereon  Mr.  Seddon  directed  Colonel  Ould 
to  return  down  the  river  (James),  see  General  Mulford  and  say 
that  in  three  days  from  the  time  we  were  notified  that  transporta- 
tion would  be  at  Savannah  to  receive  them,  the  Federals  should 
have  deliverd  them  ten  thousand  of  the  sick  from  Andersonville, 
whether  we  were  allowed  any  equivalent  in  exchange  for  them  or  not,  as  a 
mere  measure  of  humanity;  that  this  was  promptly  done;  and 
General  Mulford,  as  I  was  informed,  would  have  stated  that, 
so  impressed  was  he  with  the  enormous  suffering,  which  it 
was  the  desire  of  our  Government  to  spare-,  that  not  content  with 
an  official  letter  through  the  usual  channels,  he  went  in  person  to 
Washington,  into  the  office  of  Secretary  Stanton,  told  him  the 
whole  story,  and  urged  prompt  action,  but  got  no  reply.  Nor  was 
a  reply  vouchsafed  to  this  offer  until  the  latter  part  of  December, 
1864 ;  meanwhile  some  fifteen  thousand  men  had  died.  If  these 
be  the  facts,  who  is  responsible  ? 

My  deliberate  conviction  at  the  time,  and  ever  since,  has  been 
that  the  authorities  at  Washington  considered  thirty  thousand  men, 
just  in  the  rear  of  General  Johnston's  army  in  Georgia,  drawing 
their  rations  from  the  same  stores  from  which  his  army  had  to  be 
fed,  would  be  better  used  up  there  than  in  the  Federal  ranks,  in 
view  of  the  fact  that  they  could  recruit  their  armies,  while  we  had 
exhausted  our  material;  that  the  refusal  to  exchange  prisoners,  and 
the  denial  of  our  offers  in  regard  to  the  sick  at  Andersonville,  was 
part  of  the  plan  of  attrition.  It  will  be  remembered  that  the  friends 
of  Federal  soldiers  in  prison  at  the  South  had  become  clamorous 
about  the  stoppage  of  exchanges.  The  Northern  press  had  taken 
the  matter  up,  and  the  authorities  had  been  arraigned  as  responsi- 
ble, I  have  never  doubted  that  one  collateral  object  of  tlie  Wirz 
trial  was  by  a  perfectly  unilateral  trial  (?),  in  which  the  prosecutor 
had  everytliing  his  own  way  to  manufacture  an  answer  to  these 
just  complaints.  And  I  feel  a  conviction  that  the  truth  will  one 
day  be  vindicated;  that,  having  reference  to  relative  resources. 
Federal  prisoners  were  more  humanely  dealt  with  in  Confederate  t 
hands  than  Confederate  prisoners  were  in  Federal  hands.  It  was 
their  interest,  on  a  cold-blooded  calculation,  to  stop  exchanges 
when  they  did  it — and  as  soon  as  it  was  their  interest,  they  did  it  : 


Treatment  of  Prisoners  During  the  War.  203 

without  scruple  or  mercy.  The  responsibility  of  the  lives  lost  at 
Andersonville  rests,  since  July,  1864,  on  General  Meredith,  Com- 
missary-General of  Prisoners,  and  (chiefly)  on  Edwin  M.  Stanton, 
Secretary  of  War.  No  one  of  sound  head  or  heart  would  now  hold 
the  Northern  people  responsiljle  for  these  things.  The  blood  is  on 
the  skirts  of  their  then  rulers;  and  neither  Mr.  Garfield  nor  Mr. 
Blaine  can  change  the  record. 

I  never  heard  that  there  was  any  particular  "suffering"  at  Libby 
or  Belle  Isle,  and  do  not  believe  there  was.  Crowded  prisons  are 
not  comfortable  places,  as  our  poor  fellows  found  at  Fort  Delaware, 
Johnson's  Island,  &c. 

I  have  at  this  late  day  no  means  of  refreshing  my  memory  in 
regard  to  the  general  orders  on  the  subject  of  prison  treatment,  but 
this  as  a  general  fact  I  do  know,  that  Mr.  Davis'  humanity  was 
considered  to  be  a  stronger  sentiment  with  him  than  public  justice, 
and  it  was  a  common  remark  that  no  soldier  capitally  convicted 
was  ever  executed,  if  the  President  reviewed  the  record  of  his  con- 
viction. He  was  always  slow  to  adopt  the  policy  of  retaliation  for 
the  barbarities  inflicted  by  local  commanders  on  the  other  side. 
The  controversy  between  General  Winder  and  Colonel  Chandler 
was  never  brought  to  an  investigation,  for  the  reasons  mentioned 
above.  What  the  result  of  that  investigation  would  have  been  no 
one  can  now  tell;  but  I  will  say  in  reference  to  this  true  old  patriot 
and  soldier — a  genial  man,  whose  zeal  was  sometimes  ahead  of  his 
discretion — that  if  he  was,  at  Andersonville,  the  fiend  pretended 
by  the  "Bloody  Shirt"  shriekers,  he  had  in  his  old  age  changed  his 
nature  very  suddenly.  I  never  saw  any  reason  to  consider  Colonel 
Chandler's  rej^ort  wilfully  injurious  to  General  Winder,  and  sup- 
posed that  it  was  the  result  of  those  misunderstandings  which  not 
unfrequently  spring  up  between  an  inspecting  officer  and  a  post 
commander,  when  the  former  begins  to  find  fault. 

I  have  written  hastily.  In  minor  details,  the  lapse  of  twelve 
years  may  render  my  memory  inaccurate,  but  of  the  general  accu- 
racy of  the  narrative  I  have  given,  as  lying  in  my  own  knowledge 
or  reported  to  me  by  those  whose  names  I  have  mentioned,  I  vouch 
without  hesitation. 

Respectfully,  vours  truly, 

R.  G.  H.  Kean. 

We  have  also  a 

LETTER   FROM   SECRETARY   SEDDON, 

dated  March  27th,  1876,  from  which  we  give  the  following  extract: 

"Unfortunately,  during  my  imprisonment  after  the  war,  nearly 
all  the  papers  and  memoranda  I  had  connected  with  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  War  Department  were  destroyed,  and  I  have  had  so 
little  satisfaction  in  dwelling  upon  the  sad  sacrifices  and  sufferings 
that  attended  and. resulted  from  the  futile  though  glorious  efforts 


204  Southern  Historical  Society  Papers. 

of  our  people  in  their  lost  cause,  that  I  have  sought  rather  to  allow 
my  memories  of  events  to  be  dimmed  or  obliterated,  than  to 
brighten  or  cherish  them.  I  have  not  a  copy  of  any  of  my  own 
reports,  nor  of  that  of  Colonel  Chandler,  to  which  you  specially  * 
refer,  and  have  of  that  by  no  means  a  lively  recollection.  I  do 
remember  however,  generally,  that  it  severely  reflected  on  General 
Winder,  and  while  it  induced  calls  for  explanation  and  defence  '- 
from  General  Winder,  it  at  the  same  time,  from  its  terms,  inspired 
an  impression  of  controversy,  and  perhaps  angry  and  incautious 
expressions  between  them,  which  warned  to  caution  in  receiving 
them  as  accurate  representations  of  the  facts.  The  Department 
was  aware  of  the  strict  instructions  which  had  been  given,  both 
verbally  and  by  written  orders,  for  the  selection  and  preparation  of 
the  military  prisons,  especially  that  of  Andersonville,  with  special 
view  to  the  health  and  comfort  of  the  prisoners,  and  for  their 
humane  treatment  and  supply  on  the  same  footing  with  our  own  ; 
troops,  and  could  not  hastily  accept  an  account  of  such  orders 
being  wantonly  disregarded  by  an  old,  regularly  trained  officer, 
rather  noted  as  a  rigid  disciplinarian,  or  of  cruel  and  unofficer- 
like  treatment  of  prisoners  on  his  part.  The  authorities,  too,  knew 
only  too  well  the  grave  and  growing  deficiencies  of  all  supplies, 
and  the  sad  necessities  the  war  was  by  its  ruthless  conduct  impos- 
ing on  all  affected  by  its  course.  They  also  knew  that  unexpected 
events  had  forced  the  assemblage  of  a  far  greater  number  of  pri- 
soners than  had  been  anticipated  and  provided  for  in  the  few  safer 
points  of  confinement,  before  others  had  or  could  be  provided  for 
them,  and  we  were  daily  looking  and  counting  on  a  large  number 
being  removed  by  the  liberal  offer  of  some  10,000  of  those  suff"ering 
from  sickness  to  "be  returned  (without  equivalent)  to  the  Federals; 
and  on  the  completion  of  new,  safe  prisons  for  the  accommodation 
of  others.  The  Department,  under  such  circumstances,  could  not 
so  hastily  receive  and  act  on  the  representations  of  this  report,  or 
condemn  General  Winder  without  investigation  and  response  from 
him.  His  reports  and  explanations  were  of  a  very  different  char- 
acter, and,  as  far  as  I  now  recollect,  deemed  exonerating.  I  cannot 
recall  exactly  the  time  or  circumstances  of  his  promotion  as  Gen- 
eral, but  certainly  no  advance  was  ever  accorded  under  any  con- 
viction of  inhumanit}^  or  undue  severity  to  prisoners  by  him,  much 
less  as  a  support  to  him  therein,  or  a  reward  for  such  conduct." 

Do  not  these  letters  show  beyond  all  cavil  that  so  far  from  there 
being  a  deliberate  purpose  on  the  part  of  the  Confederate  Govern- 
ment to  murder  Federal  prisoners,  that  a  report  of  their  sufifering  ' 
condition  met  the  promptest  attention ;  that  General  Winder  was , 
at  once  asked  to  explain  the  charges  made  against  him,  and  did 
give  satisfactory  explanations;  that  Colonel  Chandler's  request  for 
a  court  of  inquiry  was  only  postiDoned  because  officers  to  compose 
the  court  could  not  be  spared  from  the  field,  and  that  without 


Treatment  of  Prisoners  During  the  War.  205 

waiting  to  hear  General  Winder's  explanations,  Mr.  Seddon  sent 
i  Judge  Ould  to  tell  the  Federal  Agent  of  Exchange  of  the  reported 
ijsuffering  of  the  Federal  prisoners,  and  to  urge  the  acceptance  of  his 
j humane  proposition,  that  if  they  would  not  exchange,  or  allow  their 
iOwn  surgeons  to  come  to  their  relief,  or  allow  the  Confederate  Gov- 
ernment to  buy  medicines  for  them,  they  would  at  least  send  trans- 
portation to  Savannah  and  receive  their  sick  without  any  equivalent. 
And  since  the  Federal  Government  turned  a  deaf  ear  to  all  of  these 
appeals,  are  they  not  responsible  before  God  and  at  the  bar  of  his- 
tory for  every  death  that  ensued  f 

\  If  it  could  be  proven  beyond  all  doubt  that  the  officers  at  Ander- 
Ijsonville  were  the  fiends  incarnate  that  Northern  hatred  pictures 
Ijthem  to  be,  there  is  not  one  scintilla  of  proof  that  the  Government 
'|at  Richmond  ordered,  approved  or  in  any  way  countenanced  their 
ij"  atrocities."  It  is  not,  therefore,  necessary  for  our  purpose  that  we 
jjshould  go  into  any 

I  DEFENCE  OP  GENERAL  WINDER. 

i  And  yet,  as  an  act  of  simple  justice  to  the  memory  of  this  officer, 

I  we  give  the  following  letters: 

'.\  Sabot  Hill,  December  29,  1875. 

pir.  W.  S.  Winder,  Baltimore : 

'■  Dear  Sir — Your  letter  reached  me  some  two  weeks  since, 

t,and  I  have  been  prevented  by  serious  indisposition  from  giving  it 
an  early  reply. 

I  take  pleasure  in  rendering  my  emphatic  testimony  to  relieve 

Hhe  character  and  reputation  of  your  father,  the  late  General  John 
H.  Winder,  from  the  unjust  aspersions  that  have  been  cast  upon 
them  in  connection  with  the  treatment  of  the  Federal  prisoners 
under  his  charge  during  our  late  civil  war. 

I  had,  privately  and  officially,  the  fullest  opportunity  of  knowing 

'ihis  character,  and  judging  his  disposition  and  conduct  towards  the 

'Federal  prisoners;  for  those  in  Richmond,  where  he  was  almost 
daily  in  official  communication  with  me,  often  in  respect  to  them, 
had  been  some  time  under  his  command  before,  in  large  measure 
from  the  care  and  kindness  he  was  believed  to  have  shown  to  them, 

^he  was  sent  South  to  have  the  supervision  and  control  of  the  large 

!  number  there  being  aggregated. 
His  manner  and  mode  of  speech  were  perhaps  naturally  some- 
what abrupt  and  sharp,  and  his  military  bearing  may  have  added 
more  of  sternness  and  imperiousness;    but  these  were  mere  sujDer- 
'  ficial  traits,  perhaps,  as  I  sometimes  thought,  assumed  in  a  manner 
Ho  disguise  the  real  gentleness  and  kindness  of  his  nature. 

I  thought  him  marked  by  real  humanity  towards  the  weak  and 
)i  helpless — such  as  women  and  children,  for  instance — by  that  spirit 


206  Southern  Historical  Society  Papers. 

of  protection  and  defence  which  distinguished  the  really  gallant 
soldier. 

To  me  he  always  expressed  sympathy,  and  manifested  a  strong 
desire  to  provide  for  the  wants  and  comforts  of  the  prisoners  under 
his  charge.  Very  frequently,  from  the  urgency  of  his  claims  in 
behalf  of  the  prisoners  while  in  Richmond,  controversies  would 
arise  between  him  and  the  Commissary-General,  which  were  sub- 
mitted to  me  by  them  in  person  for  my  decision,  and  I  was  struck 
by  his  earnestness  and  zeal  in  claiming  the  fullest  supplies  the  law 
of  the  Confederacy  allowed  or  gave  color  of  claim  to.  This  law  re- 
quired prisoners  to  have  the  allowance  provided  for  our  own  soldiers 
in  the  field,  and  constituted  the  guide  to  the  settlement  of  such  ques- 
tions. Strict  injunctions  were  invariably  given  from  the  Depart- 
ment for  the  observance  of  this  law,  both  then  and  afterwards,  in 
the  South,  and  no  departure  was  to  be  tolerated  from  it  except 
under  the  direst  straits  of  self-defence.  Your  father  was  ever  re- 
solved, as  far  as  his  authority  allowed,  to  act  upon  and  enforce  the 
rule  in  behalf  of  the  prisoners. 

When  sent  South  I  know  he  was  most  solicitous  in  regard  to  all 
arrangements  for  salubrity  and  convenience  of  location  for  the  mili- 
tary prisons,  and  for  all  means  that  could  facilitate  the  supplies  and 
comforts  of  the  prisoners,  and  promote  their  health  and  preserva- 
tion. That  afterwards  great  sufferings  were  endured  by  the  prison- 
ers in  the  South  was  among  the  saddest  necessities  of  the  war;  but 
they  were  due,  in  a  large  measure,  to  the  cessation  of  exchange, 
which  forced  the  crowding  of  numbers,  never  contemplated,  in  the 
limited  prison  bounds  which  could  be  considered  safe  in  the  South, 
to  the  increasing  danger  of  attack  on  such  places,  which  made  South- 
ern authorities  and  commanders  hostile  to  the  establishment  of 
additional  prisons  in  convenient  localities,  and  to  the  daily  increas- 
ing straits  and  deficiencies  of  su232:>lies  of  the  Confederate  Govern- 
ment, and  not  to  the  want  of  sympathy  or  humanity  on  the  part 
of  your  father,  or  his  most  earnest  efforts  to  obviate  and  relieve  the 
inevitable  evils  that  oppressed  the  unfortunate  prisoners.  I  know 
their  sad  case,  and  his  impotency  to  remedy  it  caused  him  keen 
anguish  and  distress. 

Amid  the  passions  and  outraged  feelings  yet  surviving  our  terri- 
ble struggle,  it  may  be  hard  still  to  have  justice  awarded  to  the  true 
merits  and  noble  qualities  of  your  father,  but  in  future  and  happier 
times  I  doubt  not  all  mists  of  error  obscuring  his  name  and  fame 
will  be  swept  away  under  the  light  of  impartial  investigation,  and 
he  will  be  honored  and  revered,  as  he  ought  to  be,  among  the  most 
faithful  patriots  and  gallant  soldiers  of  the  Southern  Confederacy. 
Very  truly  yours, 

James  A.  Seddon. 

[  Copy.  ] 

Montreal,  20th  June,  1867. 

My  Dear  Sir — ■  *  *  *  j  have  never  doubted  that  all  had 
been  done  for  the  comfort  and  preservation  of  the  prisoners  at  An- 


/ 


Treatment  of  Prisoners  During  the  War.  207 

dersonville  that  the  circumstances  rendered  possible.  General 
Winder  I  had  known  from  my  first  entrance  into  the  United  States 
army  as  a  gallant  soldier  and  an  honorable  gentleman.  Cruelty  to 
those  in  his  power,  defenceless  and  sick  men,  was  inconsistent  with 
the  character  of  either  a  soldier  or  a  gentleman.  I  was  always, 
therefore,  confident  that  the  charge  was  unjustly  imputed.  *  *  * 
The  efforts  made  to  exchange  the  prisoners  may  be  found  in  the 
published  reports  of  our  Commissioner  of  Exchanges,  and  they 
were  referred  to  in  several  of  my  messages  to  the  Confederate  Con- 
gress. They  show  the  anxiety  felt  on  our  part  to  relieve  the  cap- 
tives on  both  sides  of  the  sufferings  incident  to  imprisonment,  and 
how  that  humane  purpose  was  obstructed  by  the  enemy  in  disre- 
gard of  the  cartel  which  had  been  agreed  upon.  *  *  *  * 
I  am,  very  respectfully  and  truly,  yours, 

Jefferson  Davis. 
To  K.  R.  Stevenson,  Stewiacke,  N.  S. 

Special  attention  is  called  to  the  following  from  the  venerable 
Adjutant-General  of  the  Confederacy,  whose  endorsement  upon  the 
report  of  Colonel  Chandler  has  been  as  widely  copied  (and  per- 
verted) as  the  reported  action  of  Mr.  Seddon  "indignantly  remov- 
ing General  Winder  " : 

[Copy.]      . 

Alexandria,  Va.,  July  9,  1871, 
Dear  Sir — *  *  *  j  ^j^^-j^  however,  with  perfect  truth  declare  as 
my  conviction  that  General  Winder,  who  had  the  control  of  the 
Northern  prisoners,  was  an  honest,  upright  and  humane  gentleman, 
and  as  such  I  had  known  him  for  many  years.  He  had  the  repu- 
tation in  the  Confederacy  of  treating  the  prisoners  confided  to  his 
general  supervision  with  great  kindness  and  consideration,  and 
fully  possessed  the  confidence  of  the  Government,  which  would 
not  have  been  the  case  had  he  adopted  a  different  course  of  action 
toward  them ;  and  this  was  exemplified  by  his  assignment  to  Ander- 
son ville  by  the  special  direction  of  the  President.  Both  the  Presi- 
dent and  Secretary  of  War  always  manifested  great  anxiety  that 
the  prisoners  should  be  kindly  treated  and  amply  provided  with 
food  to  the  extent  of  our  means,  and  they  both  used  their  best 
means  and  exertions  to  these  ends. 

Yours  truly, 

S.  Cooper. 
To  Dr.  R.  R.  Stevenson,  StewiacJce,  Nova  Scotia. 

The  two  following  letters  need  no  comment,  except  to  call  atten- 
tion to  the  fact  that  General  Beauregard's  call  for  the  prisoners  was 
avowedly  in  retaliation  for  General  Sherman's  previous  course,  and 
that  General  Winder's  refusal  to  fill  the  requisition  is  a  most  sig- 
nificant refutation  of  the  charge  of  brutality  to  prisoners  made 
against  him : 


208  Southern  Historical  Society  Papers. 

Alexandkia,  April  3,  18G8. 

My  Dear  Captain — Yours  of  the  2d  has  been  received,  and  in 
reply  I  beg  leave  to  say  that  I  have  no  copies  of  the  letters  and 
orders  referred  to,  but  I  have  an  entry  in  my  journal  of  the  date  of 
the  9th  of  January,  1865,  whilst  headquarters  were  at  Mont- 
gomery, Alabama.  The  entry  is  substantially  as  follows:  "In  pur- 
suance of  orders,  I  addressed  a  letter  to  General  Winder,  requesting 
him  to  turn  over  thirty  Federal  prisoners  to  Major  Hottle,  quarter- 
master, for  the  purpose  of  taking  out  sub-terra  shells  and  torpedoes 
from  the  cuts  in  the  West  Point  and  Atlanta  railroad.  Shortly 
afterwards  I  received  from  General  Winder  a  rei)ly,  stating  that  he 
could  not  comply  with  the  request,  as  it  would  not  only  violate  the 
orders  of  the  War  Department,  but  would  be  in  contravention  of 
the  laws  and  usages  of  war." 

I  have  no  objection  to  your  using  this  information  on  such  occa- 
sions and  terms  as  you  may  deem  proper  for  the  vindication  of 
your  father,  but  I  would  suggest  this  consideration :  that  a  public 
use  in  the  present  heated  and  embittered  condition  of  political 
affairs  would  result  in  no  practical  use,  and  might  possibly  create 
unnecessary  prejudice  against  those  now  living  and  to  Southern 
interests. 

Very  truly  yours, 

George  W.  Brent. 

New  Orleans,  February  15,  1876. 

My  Dear  Sir — I  regret  to  find  from  your  letter  of  inquiry,  that 
General  Sherman  seeks  to  extenuate  one  of  those  violations  of  the 
rules  of  civilized  warfare,  which  characterized  his  campaign  through 
Georgia  and  South  Carolina,  by  the  easily  refuted  slander  upon  the 
Confederate  army  to  which  you  call  my  attention,  namely:  That 
in  his  em^jloyment  of  Confederate  prisoners  during  that  campaign 
to  search  and  dig  up  torpedoes,  he  acted  "  only  in  retaliation  "  for 
the  like  employment  of  Federal  prisoners  by  Confederate  com- 
manders— an  assertion  reckless  even  for  General  Sherman,  whose 
heedlessness  of  what  he  writes  and  speaks  was  notorious  before  the 
appearance  of  his  "  Memoirs." 

I  myself  can  recall  no  occasion  when  Federal  prisoners  were  or 
could  "have  been  emploj'ed,  as  alleged  by  that  General,  even  had  it 
been  legitimate,  and  not  a  shocking  inhumanity,  to  do  so;  tliat  is 
to  say,  1  do  not  believe  General  Sherman  can  specify,  with  date, 
any  place  that  came  into  possession  of  tlie  Confederates  during  the 
war,  where  torpedoes  were  planted,  which  they  had  to  remove 
either  by  resort  to  the  use  of  Federal  prisoners  or  any  other  means. 
There  certainly  was  never  such  a  place  or  occasion  in  the  depart- 
ments which  I  commanded. 

I  recollect  distinctly,  however,  learning  immediately  after  the  fall 
of  Savannah,  that  General  Sherman  himself  had  put  Confederate 
prisoners  to  this  extraordinary  use  in  his  approach  to  that  city,  as 
also  at  the  capture  of  Fort  McAllister,  and  I  thereupon  made, 


Treatment  of  Prisoners  During  the  War.  209 

through  my  Chief  of  Staff,  Colonel  G.  W.  Brent,  a  requisition  on  our 
Commissary  of  Prisoners  of  War,  General  Winder,  for  a  detachment 
of  Federal  ^jrisoners,  to  be  employed  in  retaliation,  should  the  oc- 
casion occur.  I  further  recollect  that  your  brother  answered  that, 
under  his  instructions  from  the  Confederate  War  Department,  he 
could  not  comply;  also  that,  in  his  belief,  prisoners  could  not  right- 
fully be  so  employed. 

That  General  Sherman,  as  I  had  heard  at  the  time,  did  so  employ 
his  prisoners,  stands  of  record  at  page  194,  vol.  2,  of  his  Memoirs: 
"On  the  8th  (December,  1864),  as  I  rode  along,  I  found  the  column 
turned  out  of  the  main  road,  marching  through  the  fields.  Close 
by,  on  the  corner  of  a  fence,  was  a  group  of  men  standing  around 
a  handsome  young  officer,  whose  foot  had  been  blown  to  pieces  by 
a  torpedo  planted  in  the  road.  ***** 
He  told  me  that  he  was  riding  along  with  the  rest  of  his  brigade 
staff  of  the  Seventeenth  Corps,  when  a  torpedo,  trodden  on  by  his 
horse,  had  exploded,  killing  the  horse  and  literally  blowing  off  all  the 
flesh  from  one  of  his  legs.  I  saw  the  terrible  wound  and  made  full 
inquiry  into  the  facts.  There  had  been  no  resistance  at  that  point; 
nothing  to  give  warning  of  the  danger;  the  Rebels  had  planted 
eight  inch  shells  in  the  road  with  friction  matches  to  explode  them 
by  being  trodden  on.  This  was  no  war,  but  murder,  and  it  made 
me  very  angry.  I  immediately  ordered  a  lot  of  Rebel  prisoners  to 
be  brought  from  the  provost  guard  with  picks  and  shovels,  and 
made  them  march  in  close  order  along  the  road,  so  as  to  explode 
or  discover  and  dig  them  up.  They  begged  hard,  but  I  reiterated 
the  order,  and  could  hardly  help  laughing  at  their  stepping  so  gin- 
gerly along  the  road  where  it  was  supposed  sunken  torpedoes  might 
explode  at  eack  stejj,  but  they  found  no  other  till  near  Fort  McAllis- 
ter." 

Here  we  have  his  own  confession  that  he  pushed  a  mass  of  un- 
armed men,  prisoners  of  war,  aliead  of  his  column  to  exi^lode  tor- 
pedoes, which  he  apprehended  were  planted  in  the  approaches  to  a 
strongly  fortified  position,  his  ability  to  carry  which  he  greatly 
doubted,  as  may  be  seen  from  his  "  Memoirs."  He  does  not  there 
pretend  that  he  acted  "  in  retaliation"  at  all,  but  because,  forsooth, 
he  was  "angry"  that  one  of  his  officers  had  been  badly  wounded 
by  a  torpedo  which  had  been  planted  in  his  path  "without  giving 
warning  of  danger " !  Surely  his  own  narrative,  with  its  painful 
levity,  gives  as  bad  a  hue  to  the  affair  as  General  Sherman's  worst 
enemies  could  desire.  It  remains  to  be  said  that  he  omits  mention 
of  another  instance  of  this  unwarrantable  employment  of  prisoners 
of  war.  After  General  Hazen  (on  December  13)  had  handsomely 
assaulted  and  carried  Fort  McAllister,  General  Sherman,  in  person, 
ordered  the  Confederate  engineer  officer  of  the  fort,  with  men  of 
that  garrison  then  prisoners,  to  remove  all  the  torpedoes  in  front  of 
the  fort  which  might  remain  unexploded;  gallant  soldiers  who, 
under  their  commander.  Major  G.  W.  Anderson,  had  "only  suc- 
cumbed as  each  man  was  individually  overpowered."  (General  Ha- 


210  Southern  Historical  Society/  Papers. 

zen's  official  report).  Major  Anderson,  in  his  rej^ort,  says :  "  This 
hazardous  duty  (removal  of  the  torpedoes)  was  performed  without 
injury  to  any  one;  but  it  appearing  to  me  as  an  unwarrantable  and 
improper  treatment  of  prisoners  of  war,  I  have  thought  it  right  to 
refer  to  it  in  this  rejDort."  General  Sherman  might  with  equal  right 
have  pushed  a  body  of  prisoners  in  front  of  an  assaulting  column 
to  serve  as  a  gabion-roller. 

His  manner  of  relating  the  incidents,  which  I  have  quoted  in  his 
own  words,  is  calculated  to  give  the  impression  that  the  use  of  the 
torpedoes  is  something  so  abhorrent  in  regular  warfare  that  he 
could  subject  his  unarmed  prisoners  to  the  hazard  of  exploding 
them  and  deserve  credit  for  the  act !  A  strange  oblicjuity  in  the 
general-in-chief  of  an  army  which  has,  at  the  present  moment,  a 
special  torpedo  corps  attached  to  it  as  an  important  defensive  re- 
source to  fortified  places;  in  one  who,  moreover,  was  carefully  taught 
at  West  Point  how  to  plant  the  equivalent  of  torpedoes  as  known 
to  engineers  of  that  date — i.  e.,  "  crows'-feet,"  "trous-de-loups," 
"fougasses,"  "mines,"  etc. 

For  my  part,  from  the  day  of  the  capitulation  of  Fort  Sumter, 
in  1861,  when,  in  order  to  save  a  brave  soldier  and  his  command 
from  all  unnecessary  humiliation,  I  allowed  Major  Anderson  the 
same  terms  offered  him  before  the  attack — i.  (".,  to  salute  his  flag  with 
fifty  guns,  and  to  go  forth  with  colors  flying  and  drums  beating, 
taking  off  company  and  private  property — down  to  the  close  of  the 
war,  I  always  favored  and  practiced  liberal  treatment  of  prisoners. 
At  the  same  time,  however,  I  always  urged  the  policy  of  rigid  and 
prompt  retaliation,  at  all  cost,  for  every  clear  infraction  of  the  set- 
tled laws  of  war;  for  history  shows  it  to  be  the  only  effectual  method 
of  recalling  an  enemy  from  inhuman  courses.  Washington  nevet 
hesitated  to  apply  the  painful  remedy  during  our  Revolutionary 
war. 

I  am  yours,  most  truly, 

G.  T.  Beauregard. 
W.  H.  WiNDEE,  Esq.,  New  York,  N.  Y.  % 

Since  the  foregoing  was  written  we  have  seen  a  letter  from  Judge 
Ould,  in  the  Saint  Louis  Globe-Democrat,  which  so  ably  refutes  the 
charge  made  against  him  on  the  faith  of  a  garbled  letter  of  his, 
and  brings  out  other  points  so  clearly,  that  we  give  it  entire  except 
the  introductory  paragraphs : 

KICH3I0ND,  Va.,  October  5th,  1875. 

"  I  will  now  give  the  history  and  contents  of  the  letter  which 
"S."  produces  as  the  sole  proof  of  my  premeditated  complicity  in 
the  murder  of  Federal  prisoners.  When  Richmond  was  evacuated 
in  April,  1865,  this  letter  was  found  among  the  scattered  debris  of 
General  Winder's  office.  The  first  time  I  ever  saw  it  published  in 
full  was  in  the  Washington  Chronicle,  a  well-known  Republican 


Treatment  of  Prisoners  During  the  War.  211 

paper,  of  the  date  of  August  25,  1868.  It  was  then  and  there  made 
the  basis  of  a  savage  attack  upon_me.  Of  course,  everything  in  the 
letter  which  could  be  damaging  to  me  was  set  forth.  The  latter 
part  of  it  was  printed  in  italics.  I  will  give  the  letter  as  it  appeared 
in  the  Chronicle,  and  beneath  it  I  will  give  the  version  of  "S." 
I  did  not  retain  a  copy,  but  I  believe  the  letter  as  it  appeared  in 
the  Chronicle  is  exactly  the  one  which  I  did  write.  Here,  then,  are 
the  two  versions : 

the  chronicle  version. 

City  Point. 

Sir — A  flag-of-truce  boat  has  arrived  with  350  political  prisoners, 
General  Barrow,  and  several  other  prominent  men  amongst  them. 

I  wish  you  to  send  me,  at  4  o'clock  Wednesday  morning,  all  the 
military  prisoners  (except  officers)  and  all  the  political  prisoners 
you  have.  If  any  of  the  political  prisoners  have  on  hand  proof 
enough  to  convict  them  of  being  spies,  or  of  having  committed 
other  offences  which  should  subject  them  to  punishment,  so  state 
opposite  their  names.  Also,  state  whether  you  think,  under  the 
circumstances,  they  should  be  released. 

The  arrangement  I  have  made  works  largely  in  our  favor.  We 
get  rid  of  a  set  of  miserable  wretches,  and  receive  some  of  the  best 
material  I  ever  saw. 

Ro.  OuLD,  Agent  of  Exchange. 
Brigadier-General  Winder. 

THE   VERSION   OF   "s." 

"The  arrangement  I  have  made  works  largely  in  our  favor;  in 
getting  rid  of  a  miserable  set  of  wretches,  and  receive  in  return 
some  of  the  best  material  I  ever  saw.  This,  of  course,  is  between 
ourselves." 

"S."  gives  as  the  date  of  my  letter,  in  his  first  communication, 
August  1,  1864.  In  his  last  communication  "S."  admits  his  mis- 
take, or  that  of  the  compositor,  and  says  that  the  true  date  is  August 
1,  1863.  It  will  be  seen,  according  to  the  copy  in  the  Chronicle,  that 
the  letter  has  no  date.  It  is  the  veriest  pretence  for  "S."  to  shift 
his  date  from  August  1,  1864,  to  August  1,  1863.  I  am  confident 
the  letter  had  no  date,  and  that  it  was  written  long  before  August, 
1863.  Your  readers  can  draw  their  own  conclusion  as  to  this 
double  attempt  to  change  the  face  of  my  letter. 

But,  dates  aside,  I  ask  your  attention  to  the  difference  of  the  two 
versions.  "  S."  not  only  cuts  off  the  first  part  of  the  letter,  which 
explains  the  purport  of  the  latter  part,  but  he  adds  to  the  original 
the  words,  "  this  of  course  is  between  ourselves."  In  his  last  commu- 
nication he  makes  great  ado  about  these  words,  and  lo !  they  now 
turn  out  to  be  a  forgery.  I  do  not  think  they  amount  to  much, 
nor  would  they  be  any  cause  of  shame  if  I  had  written  them. 
But  "S."  seems  to  think  otherwise,  and  makes  use  of  a  plain  forgery 


212  Southern  Historical  Society  Papers. 

to  sustain  his  false  charge  against  me.  CquIcI  not  "S."  have  been 
content  with  suppressing  that  portion  of  my  letter  which  explained 
its  last  paragraph,  without  forging  an  addition  to  it?  Moreover, 
the  version  of  "S."  makes  me  use  worse  grammar  than  is  my  wont. 
In  addition  to  his  attemi)t  to  show  me  to  be  a  felon,  does  he  desire 
to  take  from  me  "the  benefit  of  clergy"?  When  this  letter  of  mine 
appeared  in  the  Washington  Chronicle,  in  1868,  I  addressed  a  com- 
munication to  the  National  Intellif/encer,  which  was  published  in 
that  paper  on  the  29th  August,  18<)8,  explaining  the  circumstances 
under  which  it  was  written,  and  showing  very  clearly  that  the 
latter  paragraph  of  it  did  not  relate  to  soldiers  at  all.  In  that 
communication  I  stated  what  I  now  repeat — that  some  three  hun- 
dred and  fifty  political  prisoners  had  arrived  at  City  Point,  and 
being  anxious  not  to  detain  the  Federal  steamer,  I  wrote  to  General 
Winder  to  send  all  the  political  prisoners  he  had  in  his  charge,  as 
well  as  soldiers;  that  it  was  as  to  these  political  prisoners  that  I 
wrote  the  last  paragraph  in  the  letter;  that  it  so  manifestly  appeared 
from  the  context;  that  every  word  in  the  paragraph  was  true,  both 
as  to  the  class  received  and  those  sent  off;  that  not  one  Confederate 
soldier  in  service  was  received  at  that  time ;  that  scarcely  any  one 
of  the  three  hundred  and  fifty  had  been  in  prison  a  month;  that 
all  of  them  had  been  recently  arrested  as  sympathizers  with  the 
Confederate  cause;  that  those  sent  off  were  miserable  wretches  in- 
deed, mostly  robbers  and  incendiaries  from  Western  Virginia,  who 
were  Confederates  when  Confederate  armies  occupied  theircountry, 
and  Unionists  when  Federal  troops  held  it,  and  who  in  turn  preyed 
upon  one  side  and  the  other,  and  so  pillaged  that  portion  of  the 
State  that  it  had  almost  been  given  over  to  desolation;  that  they 
were  men  without  character  or  principle,  who  were  ready  to  take 
any  oath  or  engage  in  any  work  of  plunder;  that  I  then  reiterated 
what  I  had  before  written — that  they  were  "a  set  of  miserable 
wretches";  that  the  Federal  soldiers  who  had  passed  through  my 
hands  knew  well,  I  hoped,  that  I  would  not  have  applied  any  such 
phrase  to  them;  and  especially  so  if  the  calamities  of  prison  life 
had  prostrated  them,  and  that  inasnmch  as  in  my  letter  I  had  re- 
ferred to  an  arrangement  which  I  had  made,  I  must  have  referred 
to  the  exchange  of  political  prisoners  which  I  had  just  negotiated, 
and  not  to  the  exchange  of  military  prisoners,  which  was  negotiated 
by  the  cartel. 

After  this  full  and  frank  explanation  of  the  letter,  nothing  more 
for  some  seven  years  was  heard  of  it,  until  it  was  revived  in  a  false, 
forged  and  garbled  form  by  "S."  a  few  weeks  since. 

Before  its  publication  in  the  Chronicle,  it  had,  however,  appeared 
in  the  famous  Wirz  trial— whether  in  its  true  or  false  form,  I  do 
not  know.  In  this  respect  the  letter  was  more  fortunate  than  I 
was,  for  I  was  not  permitted  to  appear.  Wlrz  had  summoned  me 
through  the  proper  channel  as  a  witness  in  his  behalf.  I  went  to 
Washington  in  (^bedience  to  the  summons,  and  was  in  attendance 
upon  the  court  martial.     While  in  such  attendance  my  subpoena 


Treatment  of  Prisoners  During  the  War,  213 

was  revoked  by  the  Judge-Advocate,  and  I  was  dismissed.  I  venture 
to  assert  that  this  was  the  first  case  where  it  ever  happened,  even 
in  countries  more  unhappy  than  our  own,  that  a  witness  who  had 
been  duly  summoned  for  the  defence  was  dismissed  by  the  prose- 
cution. . 

In  my  letter  to  Colonel  Wood,  the  chief  complaint  that  I  mnde 
against  "S."  was  that  he  published  only  a  part  of  my  letter  to  General 
Winder  and  ignored  the  remainder,  which  was  a  full  explanation 
of  what  he  did  publish.  The  matter  of  dates  to  which  I  referred 
was  merely  incidental.  Now,  "S."  in  his  reply  has  a  good  deal  to 
say  about  the  matter  of  dates,  without  pretending  to  excuse  him- 
self for  garbling  the  body  of  the  letter.  Whether  he  has  any  ex- 
cuse I  know  not,  but  I  certainly  do  know  that  he  has  offered  none. 
When  I  charge  him  with  suppressing  a  material  part  of  my  letter, 
a  part  which  gave  full  explanation,  it  will  not  do  for  "S."  to  ignore 
such  charge,  and  launch  out  into  explanations,  satisfactory  or  un- 
satisfactory, about  a  mere  change  of  dates. 

In  his  last  communication,  "  S."  seeks  to  answer  what  I  had  de- 
clared in  my  letter  to  Colonel  Wood,  to  wit:  That  the  Federal 
authorities  were  responsible  for  the  suffering  of  Federal  prisoners. 
I  referred  to  a  certain  statement  of  mine  published  in  August,  1868, 
in  the  Saint  Louis  Times  and  National  Intelligencer.  I  herewith  send 
a  copy  of  that  statement,  and  beg,  in  the  interest  of  the  truth  of 
history,  that  you  will  republish  it.  I'  ask  it,  not  in  the  interest  of 
hate,  nor  to  revive  sectional  controversy,  nor  to  inflame  the  now 
subsiding  passions  of  war.  Least  of  all  do  I  desire  to  put  any 
stigma  upon  the  people  of  the  North,  for  the  sin  was  that  of  indi- 
viduals, and  they  few  in  number.  I  think,  if  a  due  investigation 
were  made,  it  would  be  found  that  the  number  of  sinners  would 
not  exceed  a  half  dozen.  I  substantially  proposed  in  my  statement 
to  prove  my  case  by  Federal  testimony.  The  witnesses  are  alive 
now,  and  the  proofs  at  hand,  if  the  archives  have  not  been  mutilated 
or  destroyed.  The  due  investigation  of  such  matter,  if  prosecuted 
with  judicial  fairness,  instead  of  increasing  any  feeling  of  hate  be- 
tween the  North  and  South,  would  tend  to  allay  it.  It  would 
conclusively  show  that  the  sections  were  not  to  be  blamed;  that 
the  people  on  both  sides  were  not  justly  amenable  to  any  reproach ; 
that  honor,  integrity  and  Christian  civilization  in  the  main  reigned 
North  and  South ;  that  maltreatment  of  the  defenceless  and  suffer- 
ing was  loathed  alike  by  Federal  and  Confederate  jDeople;  that  the 
story  of  their  participation  in  or  countenance  of  such  wrongs  is  a 
shameless  libel,  and  that  our  civil  war,  although  necessarily  harsh 
and  brutal  in  its  general  aspect,  was  illustrated  on  both  sides  by 
high  and  shining  examples  of  moderatioii,  kindness,  good  faith, 
generosity  and  knightly  courtesy.  I  do  not  believe  that  an  investi- 
gation which  would  develop  these  facts  would  tend  to  fan  into  a 
flame  the  old  passions  of  the  war.  So  far  from  that,  I  believe  it 
would  serve  to  make  us  respect  each  other  the  more.  It  is  true  that 
the  national  wrath  might  fall  upon  a  few  persons  who  really  are 


214  Southern  Historical  Society  Papers. 

the  only  ones  who  are  responsible  for  the  frightful  miseries  of  the 
prisoners  of  the  war;  but  such  a  result,  even  independent  of  the 
vindication  of  the  truth,  would  be  far  better  than  that  the  people 
of  either  side  should  believe  that  the  other,  even  under  the  prompt- 
ings of  evil  passions,  joined  in  a  crusade  against  the  helpless  and 
stiflfering. 

The  statement  which  I  ask  you  to  publish  contains  a  reference 
to  only  some  of  the  points  and  some  of  the  proofs  which  can  be 
brought  forward.  I  seek  not  to  make  myself  prominent,  or  to 
bring  myself  unduly  forward  in  this  matter.-  I  wish  the  cup 
could  pass  from  me.  But  the  official  position  which  I  occupied 
during  the  war,  as  well  as  the  fact  that  the  propositions  looking  to 
the  relief  of  prisoners  went  through  my  hands,  seems  to  require 
that  I  should  step  to  the  front.  When  I  do,  I  hope  that  my  con- 
duct may  be  marked  by  becoming  modesty  and  firmness. 

In  my  letter  to  Colonel  Wood,  I  stated  that  "every  one  of  the 
many  propositions  for  the  relief  of  Federal  prisoners,  which  I  not 
only  made,  but  pressed  upon  the  Federal  authorities,  was  uniformly 
disregarded."  The  proof  of  that  is  found  in  the  statement  which  I 
now  ask  you  to  publish.  "  S."  attempts  to  meet  my  charge  by  show- 
ing from  the  evidence  given  on  the  Wirz  trial,  that  there  was  a  large 
amount  of  stores  nafir  Andersonville  during  the  time  the  Federal 
prisoners  were  confined  there.  I  do  not  kiiow  whether  this  evi- 
dence conforms  to  the  truth  or  not.  But,  admitting  that  it  does, 
how  does  it  answer  the  charge  that  I  proposed  to  exchange  officer 
for  officer  and  man  for  man  ;  or  the  charge  that  I  proposed  that  the 
prisoners  on  each  side  should  be  attended  by  a  proper  number  of 
their  own  suvfjeons,  who,  under  rules  to  be  estabhshed,  should  be 
permitted  to  take  charge  of  their  health  and  comfort,  with  autliority, 
also,  to  receive  and  distribute  such  contributions  of  money,  food, 
clothing  and  medicine,  as  might  be  forwarded  for  the  relief  of  prison- 
ers; or  the  charge  that  I  offered  to  the  United  States  authorities 
their  sick  and  wounded^  without  requiring  any  equivalent;  or  the 
charge  that  I  offered  to  make  purchases  of  medicines  from  the 
United  States  authorities,  to  be  used  exclusively  for  the  relief  of 
Federal  prisoners,  paying  therefor  in  gold,  cotton  or  tobacco,  at 
double  or  thrice  the  price,  if  required,  and  giving  assurances  that 
the  medicines  so  bought  would  be  used  exclusively  in  the  treatment 
of  Federal  prisoners,  and,  indeed,  that  they  might  be  brought  within 
our  lines  by  Federal  surgeons  and  dispensed  by  them? 

In  my  letter  to  Colonel  Wood,  I  stated  that  I  offered  the  Ander- 
sonville prisoners,  without  requiring  equivalents,  in  August,  1864; 
that  I  urged  the  Federal  authorities  to  send  transportation  for  them 
quickly,  and  that  I  accompanied  the  offer  by  an  official  statement 
of  the  montlily  mortality,  and  set  forth  our  utter  inability  to  pro- 
vide for  the  prisoners.  "S."  endeavors  to  assail  the  truth  of  this 
statement  by  showing  that  there  were  large  supplies  at  Anderson- 
ville at  or  about  that  time.  Admitting  the  truth  of  the  figures  of 
"S."(for  as  to  their  correctness  I  know  nothing),  how  does  that 


1 


Treatment  of  Prisoners  During  the  War.  215 

fact  disprove  our  utter  inability?  The  mere  fact  that  I  offered 
these  prisoners,  without  requiring  equivalents,  is  very  strong  proof 
of  itself  of  our  inability.  But  were  sick  men  to  be  physicked  with 
"bacon,  meal,  flour,  rice,  syrup  and  whiskey,"  which  were  stored  at 
Americus  and  elsewhere  in  Southwestern  Georgia?  I  offered  to 
send  off  the  sick  and  wounded  wherever  they  might  be,  at  Ander- 
sonville  and  elsewhere.  We  had  no  medicines — the  blockade  was 
rigid — the  Federal  authorities  had  declined  to  send  any  medicines, 
even  by  the  hands  of  their  own  surgeon.s,  and  therefore  it  was  I 
said  we  were  utterly  unable  to  provide  for  the  prisoners.  It  will  be 
observed  that  my  declaration  of  utter  inability  to  provide  for  the 
prisoners  follows  immediately  my  statement  of  the  monthly  mor- 
tality at  Andersonville.  I  referred  more  to  medicine  than  to  food, 
though  I  did  not  intend  entirely  to  exclude  the  latter.  But  does 
not  "  S."  know  that  there  were  others  besides  the  prisoners  at  Ander- 
sonville, who  were  to  be  cared  for?  We  had  a  large  army  in  the 
field.  We  had  our  own  hospitals  to  supply.  Our  armies  every- 
where were  drawing  from  Georgia.  It  was  because  the  stores  at 
Americus,  Albany  and  elsewhere  were  not  sufficient  to  supply  both 
prisoners  and  our  own  soldiers,  that  I  made  the  propositions  to  the 
Federal  authorities  which  I  have  heretofore  mentioned. 

"S."  also  denies  that  the  mortality  at  Andersonville  was  greater 
after  I  proposed  to  deliver  the  Federal  prisoners,  without  requiring 
their  equivalents,  than  it  was  before.  It  is  the  truth,  however  much 
"S."  may  deny  it.  Of  course  I.  speak  of  the  percentage  of  mor- 
tality, and  not  the  aggregate.  After  August  there  were  fewer 
prisoners  at  Andersonville.  They  were  removed  to  other  depots. 
The  mortality  rate  was  greater  after  August  than  before.  It  could 
have  been  spared  if  transportation  had  been  sent  when  I  so  re- 
quested. 

I  am  sorry  to  tax  your  columns  with  so  long  a  communication, 
but  I  could  not  well  do  justice  to  the  subject  in  less  space. 

Yours,  respectfully,  Ro.  Ould. 

We  will  add  an  explanation  of  another  letter  which  purports  to 
have  been  written  by  Judge  Ould  during  the  war,  and  which  has 
been  widely  circulated  in  the  Radical  papers  as  proof  positive  of 
inexcusable  cruelty  to  prisoners. 

The  popular  version  of  this  letter  is  as  follows: 

Confederate  States  of  America, 
War  Department, 
Richmond,  Virginia,  Marcli  21,  18C3. 

My  Dear  Sir — If  the  exigencies  of  our  army  require  the  use 
of  trains  for  the  transportation  of  corn,  pay  no  regard  to  the  Yankee 
prisoners.  I  would  rather  they  should  starve  than  our  own  people 
suffer. 

I  suppose  I  can  safely  put  it  in  writing,  "Let  them  suffer." 

Very  truly,  your  faithful  friend,  Ro.  Ould. 

Colonel  A.  C.  Myers. 


216  Southern  Historical  Society  Papers. 

Judge  Ould  says  that  he  does  not  remember  ever  to  have  written 
such  a  letter,  and  we  have  searched  his  letter-book  (in  which  he 
was  accustomed  to  have  all  of  his  letters  copied)  in  vain  for  the 
slightest  trace  of  it.  We  might  simply  demand  the  'production  of  the 
original  letter.  But  Judge  Ould  thinks  it  possible  that  in  one  of  his 
many  contests  with  Confederate  quartermasters  in  the  interest  of 
Federal  prisoners  he  may  have  complained  that  transportation  was 
not  promptly  furnished  the  prisoners — that  the  parties  complained 
of  made  explanations  to  the  effect  that  they  could  not  furnish  the 
transportation  at  the  time  without  seriously  interfering  with  feeding 
the  Confederate  army,  and  that  he  may  have  made  on  the  papers 
some  such  endorsement,  referring  to  some  special  set  of  circum- 
stances. The  reference  could  not  be  to  the  general  question  of 
feeding  the  prisoners,  for  with  that  Judge  Ould  had  nothing  to  do; 
and  he  defies  the  production  of  all  of  the  papers  in  his  department 
to  show  that  he  was  ever  otherwise  than  humane  to  prisoners. 

We  have  thus  given  the  other  side  the  full  benefit  of  about  all 
they  have  been  able  in  eleven  years  to  garble  from  the  Confederate 
records. 

FIGURES   OF   SECRETARY   STANTON. 

Yet  after  all  that  has  been  said  on  this  subject,  the  stubborn  fact 
remains  that  over  three  per  cent,  more  Confederates  perished  in  Northern 
prisons  than  of  Federal  prisoners  in  Southern  prisons.  The  figures  to 
prove  this  statement  have  been  several  times  given  in  this  discus- 
sion, but  they  are  so  significant  that  we  give  them  again  in  the  form 
in  which  they  were  presented  by  Honorable  B.  H.  Hill  in  his 
masterly  reply  to  Mr.  Blaine.     Mr.  Hill  said : 

*'  Now,  will  the  gentleman  believe  testimon}^  from  the  dead  ?  Tlie 
Bible  says,  '  The  tree  is  known  by  its  fruits.'  And,  after  all,  what 
is  the  test  of  suffering  of  these  prisoners  North  and  South?  The 
test  is  the  result.  Now,  I  call  the  attention  of  gentlemen  to  this 
fact,  that  the  report  of  Mr.  Stanton,  the  Secretary  of  War — you 
will  believe  him,  will  you  not? — on  the  19th  of  July,  18G6 — send  to 
the  library  and  get  it — exhil:)its  the  fact  that  of  the  Federal  pris- 
oners in  Confederate  hands  during  the  war,  only  22,576  died,  while 
of  the  Confederate  prisoners  in  Federal  hands  26,436  died.  And 
Surgeon-General  Barnes  reports  in  an  official  report — I  suppose 
you  will  believe  him — that  in  round  numbers  the  Confederate 
prisoners  in  Federal  hands  amounted  to  220,000,  while  the  Federal 
prisoners  in  Confederate  hands  amounted  to  270,000.  Out  of  the 
270,000  in  Confederate  hands  22,000  died,  while  of  the  220,000 
Confederates  in  Federal  hands  over  26,000  died.     The  ratio  is  this :- j ; 


Treatment  of  Prisoners  During  the  War.  217 

More  than  twelve  per  cent,  of  the  Confederates  in  Federal  hands 
died,  and  less  than  nine  per  cent,  of  the  Federals  in  Confederate 
hands  died.  What  is  the  logic  of  these  facts  according  to  the  gen- 
tleman from  Maine?  I  scorn  to  charge  murder  upon  the  officials 
•of  Northern  prisons,  as  the  gentleman  has  done  upon  Confederate 
prison  officials.  I  labor  to  demonstrate  that  such  miseries  are 
inevitable  in  prison  life,  no  matter  how  humane  the  regulations." 

An  effort  'has  since  been  made  by  the  Radical  press  to  discredit 
these  figures,  and  it  has  been  charged  that "  Jeff.  Davis  manufactured 
them  for  Hill's  use."  But  with  ample  time  to  prepare  his  rejoinder, 
and  all  of  the  authorities  at  hand,  Mr.  Blaine  did  not  dare  to  deny 
them.  He  fully  admitted  their  truth,  and  only  endeavored  to 
weaken  their  force  by  the  following  explanation,  of  which  we  give 
him  the  full  benefit : 

"Now,  in  regard  to, the  relative  number  of  prisoners  that  died  in 
the  North  and  the  South  respectively,  the  gentleman  undertook  to 
■show  that  a  great  many  more  prisoners  died  in  the  hands  of  the 
Union  authorities  than  in  the  hands  of  the  Rebels.  I  have  had 
conversations  with  surgeons  of  the  army  about  that,  and  they  say 
that  there  were  a  large  number  of  deaths  of  Rebel  jDrisoners,  but 
that  during  the  latter  period  of  the  war  they  came  into  our  hands 
very  much  exhausted,  ill-clad,  ill-fed,  diseased,  so  that  they  died  in 
our  prisons  of  diseases  that  they  l^rought  with  them.  And  one 
eminent  surgeon  said,  without  wishing  at  all  to  be  quoted  in  this 
debate,  that  the  question  was  not  only  what  was  the  condition  of 
the  prisoners  when  they  came  to  us,  but  what  it  was  when  they 
were  sent  back.  Our  men  were  taken  in  full  health  and  strength ; 
they  came  back  wasted  and  worn — mere  skeletons.  The  Rebel 
prisoners,  in  large  numbers,  were,  when  taken,  emaciated  and  re- 
duced; and  General  Grant  says  that  at  the  time  such  superhuman 
efforts  were  made  for  exchange  there  were  90,000  men  that  would 
have  re-enforced  the  Confederate  armies  the  next  day,  prisoners  in 
our  hands  who  were  in  good  health  and  ready  for  fight.  This  con- 
sideration sheds  a  great  deal  of  light  on  what  the  gentleman  states." 

The  substance  of  this .  extract  is  that  Mr.  Blaine  does  not  deny 
the  greater  mortality  of  our  prisoners  in  Northern  prisons,  but  ac- 
counts for  it  on  the  supposition  that  our  men  were  so  much  "  ex- 
hausted, so  ill-clad,  ill-fed  and  diseased,^''  that  they  "  died  of  diseases 
that  they  brought  ivith  themy 

Now,  if  this  explanation  were  true  it  would  contain  a  fatal  stab 
to  Mr.  Blaine's  whole  argument  to  prove  Confederate  cruelty  to 
prisoners.  If  our  own  soldiers  were  so  ill-clad  and  ill-fed  as  to  ren- 
der them  exhausted,  and  so  diseased  that  when  taken  prisoners  they 
died  like  sheep,  despite  the  tender  nursing  and  kind,  watchful  care 


i 


218  Southern  Historical  Society  Papers. 


which  (according  to  Mr.  Blaine)  they  received  at  the  hands  of  their 
captors,  how  could  a  Government  which  had  not  the  means  of 
making  better  provision  for  its  own  soldiers  provide  any  better 
than  we  did  for  the  thousands  of  prisoners  which  were  captured  by 
these  emaciated  skeletons?  And  what  shall  we  say  of  General  Grant 
and  his  splendid  army  of  two  hundred  thousand  hale,  hearty,  well 
equipped  men,  who,  in  the  campaign  of  1864,  were  beaten  on 
every  field  by  forty  thousand  of  these  "emaciated  and  reduced" 
creatures,  until,  after  losing  over  a  third  of  their  men,  they  were 
compelled  to  skulk  behind  their  fortifications  at  Petersburg,  and 
absolutely  refused  "the  open  field  and  fair  fight,"  which  Lee  and 
his  "ragamuffins"  offered  them  at  every  jDoint  from  the  Wilderness 
to  Petersburg? 

But,  of  course,  the  whole  thing  is  absurd.  Our  men  were  on 
half  rations,  and  in  rags,  it  is  true;  but  a  healthier,  hardier  set  of 
fellows  never  marched  or  fought,  and  they  died  in  Northern  prisons 
(as  we  shall  hereafter  show)  because  of  inexcusably  harsh  treat- 
ment. 

These  official  figures  of  Mr.  Stanton  and  Surgeon-General  Barnes 
tell  the  whole  story,  and  nail  to  the  counter  the  base  slander  against 
the  Confederate  Government, 

FAILURE   TO   MAKE   A   CASE   AGAINST   MR.  DAVIS. 

But  a  crowning  proof  that  this  charge  of  cruelty  to  prisoners  is  false, 
may  be  more  clearly  brought  out  than  it  has  been  above  intimated. 
In  the  proceedings  against  Wirz,  Mr.  Davis  and  other  Confederate 
leaders  were  unquestionably  on  trial.  Every  effort  that  partisan 
hatred  or  malignant  ingenuity  could  invent  was  made  to  connect 
Mr.  Davis  with  and  make  him  responsible  for  the  "  crimes  of  An- 
dersonville."  The  captured  Confederate  archives  were  searched? 
perjured  witnesses  were  summoned,  and  the  ablest  laAvyers  of  the 
reigning  party  put  their  wits  to  work;  but  the  prosecution  utterly 
broke  down.  They  were  unable  to  make  out  a  case  upon  which  " 
Holt  and  Chipman  dared  to  go  into  a  trial  even  before  a  military 
court,  which  was  wont  to  listen  patiently  to  all  of  the  evidence  for 
the  'prosecution^  and  coolly  dismiss  the  witnesses  for  the  defence. 
Does  not  this  fact  speak  volumes  to  disi:»rove  the  charge,  and  to 
show  that  no  cases  can  be  made  out  against  our  Government? 

But  an  even  stronger  jjoint  remains.  After  despairing  of  con- 
victing Mr.  Davis  on  any  testimony  which  they  had  or  could 
procure,  they  tried  to  bribe  poor  Wirz  to  save  his  own  life  by 


Treatment  of  Prisoners  During  the  War.  219 

swearing  away  the  life  of  Mr.  Davis,  who  was  then  in  irons  at 
Fortress  Monroe. 

Mr.  Hill  thus  strongly  puts  it : 

Now,  sir,  there  is  another  fact.  Wirz  was  put  on  trial,  but  really 
Mr.  Davis  was.  the  man  intended  to  be  tried  through  him.  Over 
one  hundred  and  sixty  witnesses  were  introduced  before  the  mili- 
tary commission.  The  trial  lasted  three  months.  The  whole 
country  was  under  military  despotism ;  citizens  labored  under 
duress ;  quite  a  large  number  of  Confederates  were  seeking  to  make 
favor  with  the  powers  of  the  Government.  .  Yet,  sir,  during  those 
three  months,  with  all  the  witnesses  they  could  bring  to  Washington, 
not  one  single  man  ever  mentioned  the  name  of  Mr.  Davis  in  con- 
nection with  a  single  atrocity  at  Anclersonville  or  elsewhere.  The 
gentleman  from  Maine,  with  all  his  research  into  all  the  histories 
of  the  Duke  of  Alva  an.d  the  massacre  of  Sain{  Bartholomew  and 
the  Spanish  inquisition,  has  not  been  able  to  frighten  up  such  a 
witness  yet. 

Now,  sir,  there  is  a  witness  on  this  subject.  Wirz  was  condemned, 
found  guilty,  sentenced. to  be  executed;  and  I  have  now  before  me 
the  written  statement  of  his  counsel,  a  Northern  man  and  a  Union 
man.  He  gave  this  statement  to  the  country,  and  it  has  never 
been  contradicted. 

Hear  what  this  gentleman  says: 

"On  the  night  before  the  execution  of  the  prisoner  W'irz,  a  tele- 
gram was  sent  to  the  Northern  press  from  this  city,  stating  that 
Wirz  had  made  important  disclosures  to  General  L.  C.  Baker,  the 
well  known  detective,  implicating  Jefferson  Davis,  and  that  the 
confession  would  probably  be  given  to  the  public.  On  the  same 
evening  some  parties  came  to  the  confessor  of  Wirz,  Rev.  Father 
Boyle,  and  also  to  me  as  his  counsel,  one  of  them  informing  me  that 
a  high  Cabinet  officer  wished  to  assure  Wirz  that  if  he  would  im- 
plicate Jefferson  Davis  with  atrocities  committed  at  Andersonville, 
his  sentence  would  be  commuted.  The  messenger  requested  me  to 
inform  Wirz  of  this.  In  presence  of  Father  Boyle  I  told  Wirz  next 
morning  what  had  happened." 
«    Hear  the  reply: 

"Captain  Wirz  simply  and  quietly  replied:  'Mr.  Schade,  you 
know  that  I  have  always  told  you  that  I  do  not  know  anything 
about  Jefferson  Davis.  He  had  no  connection  with  me  as  to  what 
was  done  at  Andersonville.  I  would  not  become  a  traitor  against 
him  or  an3'body  else,  even  to  save  my  life.'" 

Sir,  what  Wirz,  within  two  hours  of  his  execution,  would  not 
say  for  his  life,  the  gentleman  from  Maine  says  to  the  country  to 
keep  himself  and  his  party  in  power. 

The  statement  of  Mr.  Schade  is  confirmed  by  the  following  ex- 
tract from  the  Cyde^  of  Mobile,  Alabama: 

In  the  brief  report  of  the  speech  of  Mr.  Hill  in  Congress  on  Monday 


220  Southern  Historical  Society  Papers, 

last,  copied  in  another  place,  it  will  be  observed  that  he  refers  to  a 
statement  made  by  Captain  Wirz  to  his  counsel  just  before  his 
death.  The  subjoined  letter  from  Professor  R.  B.  Winder,  M.  D., 
now  Dean  of  the  Baltimore  Dental  College,  who  was  a  prisoner  in 
a  cell  near  that  of  Wirz,  will  give  a  more  detailed  account  of  the 
same  transaction.  The  letter  was  written  in  reply  to  an  inquiry 
made  in  the  course  of  investigation  in  the  history  of  the  transac- 
tions which  have  been  made  the  subject  of  discussion  in  Congress. 
Dr.  Winder  speaks  of  the  statement  as  having  been  already  sev- 
eral times  published.  We  do  not  remember  to  have  seen  it  before. 
At  any  rate,  it  will  well  bear  repetition,  and  will  come  in  very  per- 
tinently, aproj)os  of  the  recent  debate  : 

Baltimore,  November  IG,  1875. 
Major  W.  T.  Walthall  : 

My  Dear  Sir — Your  letter  of  the  25th  of  last  month  was  duly 
received,  and  except  from  sickness  should  have  been  replied  to  long 
ago.  I  take  pleasure  in  giving  you  the  facts  which  you  request, 
but  they  have  already  been  published  several  times  in  the  difi'erent 
papers  of  the  country. 

A  night  or  two  before  Wirz's  execution,  early  in  the  evening,  I 
saw  several  male  individuals  (looking  like  gentlemen)  pass  into 
Wirz's  cell.  I  was  naturally  on  the  "  qui  viye"  to  know  the  meaning 
of  this  unusual  visitation,  and  was  hoping  and  expecting,  too,  that 
it  might  be  a  reprieve — for  even  at  that  time  I  was  not  prepared  to 
believe  that  so  foul  a  judicial  murder  would  be  perpetrated — so  I 
stood  at  my  door  and  directly  saw  these  men  pass  out  again.  / 
think,  indeed  I  am  quite  certain,  there  -were  three  of  them.  Wirz  came 
to  his  door,  which  was  immediately  opposite  to  mine,  and  I  gave 
him  a  look  of  inquiry  which  he  at  once  understood.  He  said: 
"These  men  have  just  offered  me  my  liberty  if  I  will  testify  against 
Mr.  Davis  and  criminate  him  with  the  charges  against  the  Ander- 
sonville  prison;  I  told  them  that  I  could  not  do  this,  as  I  neither  •' 
knew  Mr.  Davis  personally  officially,  or  socially,  but  that  if  they 
expected  with  the  offer  of  my  miserable  life  to  purchase  me  to  treason 
and  treachery  to  the  South,  they  had  undervalued  me."  I  asked  him  if 
he  knew  Avho  the  parties  were.  He  said  "no,"  and  that  they  had? 
refused  to  tell  him  who  they  were — but  assured  him  that  they  had 
full  power  to  do  wdiatever  they  might  promise.  This  is  all,  and  as 
you  perceive,  I  did  not  hear  the  conversation,  but  merely  report 
what  Wirz  said  to  me — but  he  also  made  the  same  statement  to  his 
counsel,  Mr.  Schade,  of  Washington  city,  and  he  has  also,  under 
his  own  signature,  published  these  facts. 

You  will  better  understand  the  whole  matter  from  the  accom- 
panjdng  diagram  of  our  respective  jails.  The  doors  opened  imme- 
diately opposite,  and  it  was  such  hot  weather  that  the}^  allowed 
the  doors  to  be  open — the  corridor  being  always  heavily  guarded 
by  sentinels,  and  a  sentinel  was  always  posted  directly  between 
these  openings — but  Wirz  and  myself  were  often  allowed  to 
converse.  Very  truly  yours,  R.  B.  Winder. 


D'eatment  of  Prisoners  During  the  War.  221 

Have  we  not  made  out  our  case  so  far  as  we  have  gone?  But 
our  material  is  by  no  means  exhausted,  and  we  sliall  take  up  the 
subject,  again  in  our  next  issue.  We  propose  to  discuss  still  further 
the  question  of  exchange,  and  then  to  pass  to  a  consideration  of  the 

i  treatment  of  Confederate  prisoners  by  the  Federal  authorities.  We 
ask  that  any  of  our  friends  who  have  material  illustrating  any 

I  branch  of  this  subject  will  forward  it  to  us  at  once. 

*  We  have  a  number  of  diaries  of  prison  life  by  Confederates  who 
did  not  find  Elmira,  Johnson's  Island,  Fort  Delaware,  Rock  Island, 
Camp  Douglas,  Camp  Chase,  &c.,  quite  so  pleasant  as  Mr.  Blaine's 
rose-colored  picture  of  Northern  prisons  would  make  it  appear. 
And  we  have  also  strong  testimony  from  Federal  soldiers  and  citi- 
zens of  the  North  as  to  ihe  truth  of  our  version  of  the  prison  ques- 
tion. But  we  would  be  glad  to  receive  further  statements  bearing 
on  this  whole  question,  as  we  desire  to  prepare  for  the  future  his- 
torian the  fullest  j)ossible  material  for  the  vindication  of  our  slan- 
dered people. 

To  those  who  may  deprecate  the  reopening  of  this  question,  we 
would  say  that  we  did  not  reopen  it.  The  South  has  rested  in 
silence  for  years  under  these  slanderous  charges;  and  we  should 
have,  perhaps,  been  content  to  accumulate  the  material  in  our  ar- 
chives, and  leave  our  vindication  to  the  "coming  man"  of  the 
future  who  shall  be  able  to  write  a  true  history  of  the  great  strug- 
gle for  constitutional  freedom.  But  inasmuch  as  the  question  has 
been  again  thrust  upon  the  country  by  a  Presidential  aspirant,  and 
the  Radical  press  is  filled  with  these  calumnies  against  our  Govern- 

*  ment,  we  feel  impelled  to  give  at  least  an  outline  of  our  defence. 
We  will  only  add  that  we  have  not  made,  and  do  not  mean  to 
make,  a  single  statement  tvhich  we  cannot  prove  before  any  fair-minded 
tribunal,  from  documents  in  our  possession. 


222  Southern  Historical  Society  Papers. 

JSxlitxirial  ^ifat^agrapbe. 


OuB  thanks  are  due  to  many  friends  who  have  pushed  the  cu-culation  of 
our  Papers,  and  to  the  press  for  the  most  kindly  notices.  Our  subscription 
list  is  still  rapidly  increasing,  but  wo  bespeak  the  kind  help  of  our  friends  to 
give  us  such  a  list  as  will  enable  us  to  make  various  improvements  in  the  get 
up  of  our  Fajjers. 


We  have  no  fixed  day  of  the  montli  for  our  issue,  but  we  will  use  our  best 
endeavors  to  let  each  number  appear  before  the  close  of  tlie  month. 


. ; 


An  important  typographical  error  in  Judge  Quid's  letter  to  General  Hitch- 
cock, page  127,  crept  into  the  copy  we  used  and  was  carelessly  overlooked  by 
us  in  readuig  the  proof.     The  date  ought,  of  course,  to  be  "1864"  instead  of 

"186S." 


We  are  obliged  to  surrender  tliis  month  so  large  a  part  of  our  editorial     ; 
space  that  we  omit  much  that  we  had  desired  to  say. 


Book  Notices. 

Memorial  Virginia  Military  Institute.     By  Charles  D.  Walker,  late  Assistant 

Professor  Virginia  Mlitary  Institute.     Philadelphia :    J.  B.  Lippiucott 

&Co. 

We  are  indebted  to  the  courtesy  of  General  F.  11.  Smith,  Superintendent 
of  the  Virginia  Military  Institute,  for  a  copy  of  this  book,  which  contains 
brief  sketches  of  one  hundred  and  seventy  of  the  graduates  and  61oves  of  the 
Virginia  Military  Institute  who  gave  their  lives  to  the  Confederate  cause. 
Tlie  volume  contains  also  a  discourse  on  the  life  and  character  of  Lieu- 
tenant-General  T.  J.  Jackson  by  General  F.  H.  Smith,  a  sketch  of  the  battle 
of  New  Market  by  General  Smith,  and  a  memorial  poem  by  James  Barroa 
Hope,  Esq. 

;Mr.  Walker  has  done  his  work  admirably.  He  has  called  to  his  aid  the  pens 
of  some  of  our  most  distinguished  men,  and  has  made  a  record  of  self-denying 
heroism  and  high  military  skill  which  reflects  the  highest  credit  upon  the 
Institute,  and  should  find  a  place  in  every  home  in  the  South,  tliat  our  youth 
may  study  the  characters  and  imitate  the  virtues  of  these  noble  men  who 
freely  yielded  up  theii'  lives  at  the  call  of  native  land. 


The  Confederate  Currency.     By  William  Lee,  M.  D.,  of  Washington,  D.  C. 
The  author  has  kindly  sent  us  a  copy  of  this  pamplilet,  together  with  plates 


Editorial  Paragraphs.  223 

illustrating  the  various  issues  of  Confederate  notes.  It  is  a  publication  of 
rare  interest  and  value,  and  we  are  not- supprised  to  learn  tliat  a  new  edition 
has  been  called  for. 


Our  Living  and  Our  Dead. 

The  editor  and  proprietor,  Colonel  S.  D.  Pool,  has  donated  to  our  library- 
three  beautifully  bound  volumes  of  this  magazine,  wliich  he  has  been  pub- 
lishing in  Raleigh,  North  Carolina.  It  contains  a  great  deal  of  historic 
value,  and  is  a  higlily  prized  addition  to  our  library. 


Books  Received. 

We  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  the  following  books,  which  will  be  noticed 
more  fully  hereafter : 

From  D.  Appleton  &  Co.,  New  York  : 
Cookers  Life  of  General  R.  E.  Lee. 
A  Military  Biography  of  Stonewall  Jaclcson.     By  Colonel  John  Esten  Cooke. 

With  an  ai:)pendix  (containing  an  account  of  the  Inaugiu-ation  of  Foley's 

statue,  etc.),  by  Rev.  J.  Wm.  Jones. 

General  Joseph  E.  Johnston'' s  Narrative. 

Personal  Beminiscences^  Anecdotes  and  Letters  of  General  R.  E.  Lee.    By 
Rev.  J.  Wm.  Jones,  D.  D. 

S}ierman''s  Memoirs  and  ShucJcers^  Life  of  Chief  Justice  Chase. 

From  the  publishers.  Harper  Brothers,   New  York    (through   West  & 
Johnston,  Richmond) : 
Draper''s  Civil  War  in  America.    , 

From  J.  B.  Lippincott,  PhUadelpliia  (through  West  &  Johnston) : 
Dixon's  New  America. 

From  West  &  Johnston,  Richmond  : 
A  beautiful  lithograph  of  the  Ordinance  of  Secession  of  Virginia,  and  the 

signatures  of  the  members  of  the  conventioii. 

From  the  au^^^hor  (Dr.  Joseph  Jones,  New  Orleans)  : 
Medical  and  Surgical  Memoirs,  1855-1876. 


224  Southern  Historical  Society  Papers. 


Mmm  Bmn  Mim, 


PUBLISHED  EVERY  MONTH 

UNDER  THE  DIRECTION  OF  TEE  EXECUTIVE  COMMITTEE 
OF  THE  SOUTHERN  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 


These  papers  will  contain  a  great  deal  of  the  official  history 
of  the  late  war,  and  many  contributions  frotti  the  ablest  of  the 
men  who  made  the  great  struggle  for  constitutional  freedom.  It 
is  proposed  to  issue  a  number  every  month,  properly  arranged  for 
binding,  so  that  at  the  end  of  the  year  each  subscriber  will  have  a 
large  volume  of  matter  that  will  be  of  deep  historic  interest,  and 
simply  INVALUABLE  to  every  one  who  desires  to  know  the  truth 
about  the  late  war. 

We  furnish  these  Papers  free  of  charge  to  members  of  the 
Society  who  have  paid  their  annual  fees,  and  to  other  subscribers  at 

THUEE  DOLLAHS  PER  ANNUM. 

As  our  Monthly  will  go  into  every  State  of  the  South,  and 
oirculate  among  our  very  best  people,  it  offers  rare  inducements  to 
advertisers.  We  will  insert  a  few  advertisements  at  the  following 
rates : 

12  mos.  C  moa.  3  mos.  1  mo. 

1  pai^e $75  $40  $25  $10 

i  page 40  25  15  6 

I  page 25  15  8  3 

We  desire  to  secure  everywhere  suitable  agents  to  canvass  for 
members  of  the  Society,  or  subscribers  to  our  Papers. 
Address 

Rev.  J.  WILLIAM  JONES, 

Secretary  Southern  Historical  Society,  Richmond,  Va. 


iiera  BisMiciL  iim  mm. 


Tol.  I. 


Richmond,  Ya.,  April,  1876. 


No.  4. 


THE  TKEATMENT  OF  PRISONERS  DURING  THE  WAR  BETWEEN 

THE  STATES. 

[Compiled  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Southern  Historical  Society.] 

We  stated  in  our  last  issue  that  we  should  resume  this  subject  in 
this  number.  But  instead  of  finishing  at  this  point  the  discussion 
of  the  Exchange  question,  we  will  first  dispose  of 

THE   TREATMENT   OF   CONFEDERATE    PRISONERS    BY  THE  FEDERAL 
AUTHORITIES. 

The  ex  parte  reports  of  the  Federal  Congress,  the  reports  of  the 
United  States  officials,  the  reports  of  the  Sanitary  Commission, 
various  books  that  partisan  writers  at  the  North  have  published, 
and  the  Radical  press  generally,  have  represented  that  while  the  Con- 
federate authorities  deliberately,  wilfully,  and  persistently,  starved, 
tortured,  and  murdered  Union  prisoners,  the  Federal  "authorities 
always  treated  their  captives  in  the  most  considerate  and  humane 
manner.  Indeed  the  impression  s.ought  to  be  made  is  that  Con-, 
federates  fared  so  much  better  in  Federal  prisons  than  they  did  in 
the  Confederate  army,  that  their  capture  was  really  a  blessing  to 
them — that  they  came  to  prison  emaciated  skeletons,  and  were  sent 
back  (except  those  who  "  died  of  diseases  they  brought  with 
them  ")  sleek,  hale,  healthy  men. 

We  might  quote  largely  on  this  point  from  the  writings  alluded 
to,  but  we  will  only  give  an  extract  from  the  speech  of  Hon.  James 
G.  Blaine,  uttered  deliberately  on  the  floor  of  the  United  States 
House  of  Representatives  eleven  years  after  the  close  of  the  ivar : 

"  Now  I  undertake  here  to  say  that  there  is  not  a  Confederate 
soldier  now  living  who  has  any  credit  as  a  man  in  his  community, 
and  who  ever  was  a  prisoner  in  the  hands  of  the  Union  forces,  who 
will  say  that  he  ever  was  cruelly  treated ;  that  he  ever  was  deprived 
of  the  same  rations  that  the  Union  soldiers  had — the  same  food 
and  the  same  clothing. 


1 


226  Southern  Historical  Society  Papers, 


"Mr.  Cook.  Thousands  of  them  say  it — thousands  of  them; 
men  of  as  high  character  as  any  in  this  House. 

"  Mr.  Blaine.  I  take  issue  upon  that.  There  is  not  one  who 
can  substantiate  it — not  one.  As  for  measures  of  retahation, 
although  goaded  by  this  terrific  treatment  of  our  friends  imprisoned 
by  Mr.  Davis,  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  specifically  refused 
to  pass  a  resolution  of  retaliation,  as  contrary  to  modern  civilization 
and  the  first  precepts  of  Christianity.  And  there  was  no  retaliation 
attempted  or  justified.  It  was  refused ;  and  Mr.  Davis  knew  it  was 
refused  just  as  well  as  I  knew  it  or  any  other  man,  because  what 
took  place  in  Washington  or  what  took  place  in  Richmond  was 
known  on  either  side  of  the  line  within  a  day  or  two  thereafter." 

Now  we  propose  to  meet  this  issue — and  if  we  do  not  show  by 
witnesses,  of  the  most  unimpeachable  character,  that  Confederate 
prisoners  ivere  "cruelly  treated" — that  they  were  deprived  of  the 
same  rations  that  the  Union  soldiers  had — the  same  food  and  the 
same  clothing" — if  we  do  not  show  that  the  Federal  authorities 
were  themselves  guilty  of  the  crimes  they  charged  against  us,  then 
we  are  willing  to  stand  before  the  bar  of  history  convicted  of 
inability  to  judge  of  the  weight  of  evidence. 

And  here  again  our  work  of  compilation  is  rendered  difficult 
only  by  the  mass  of  material  at  hand.  We  have  enough  to  make 
several  large  volumes — we  can  only  cull  here  and  there  a  statement, 

Mr.  Henry  Clay  Dean,  of  Iowa,  who  says  in  his  introduction, 
"  I  am  a  Democrat ;  a  devoted  friend  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States;  a  sincere  lover  of  the  Government  and  the  Union  of  the  States^^ — 
pubhshed  in  1868  a  book  of  512  pages,  entitled  "  Crimes  of  the 
Civil  War,"  which  we  respectfully  commend  to  the  perusal  of  those 
who  believe  that  the  Federal  Government  conducted  the  war  on 
the  principles  of  "modern  civilization  and  the  precepts  of  Chris- 
tianity." 

We  will  extract  only  one  chapter  (pp.  120-141),  and  will  simply 
preface  it  with  the  remark,  that  though  some  of  the  language  used 
is  severer  than  our  taste  would  approve,  the  narrative  bears  the 
impress  of  truth  on  its  face,  and  can  be  abundantly  substantiated 
by  other  testimony : 

NARRATIVE  OF  HENRY  CLAY  DEAN. 

In  the  town  of  Palmyra,  INIissouri,  John  McNeil  had  his  head- 
quarters as  colonel  of  a  Missouri  regiment  and  commander  of  the 
post. 

An  officious  person  who  had  acted  as  a  spy  and  common  niformer, 
named  Andrew  Allsman,  who  was  engaged  in  the  detestable  business 


Treatment  of  Prisoners  During  the  War.  227 

of  havino;  his  neighbors  arrested  upon  charges  of  disloyalty,  and 
eecuring  the  scoutings  and  ravages  from  every  house  that  was  not 
Bummarily  burned  to  the  earth.  This  had  so  long  been  his  vocation 
that  he  was  universally  loathed  by  people  of  every  shade  of  opinion, 
and  soon  brought  upon  himself  the  fate  common  to  all  such  persons 
in  every  country,  where  the  spirit  of  self-defence  is  an  element  of 
human  nature.  In  his  search  for  victims  for  the  prison  which  was 
kept  at  Palmyra,  this  man  was  missed;  nobody  knew  when,  or 
where,  or  how  ;  whether  drowned  in  the  river,  absconding  from  the 
arm}',,  or  killed  by  Federal  soldiers  or  concealed  Confederates. 

His  failure  to  return  was  made  the  pretext  for  a  series  of  the 
most  horrible  crimes  ever  recorded  in  any  country,  civilized  or 
barbarous. 

John  McNeil  is  a  Nova  Scotian  by  birth,  the  descendant  of  the 
expelled  tories  of  the  American  Revolution,  who  took  sides  against 
the  colonists  in  the  rebellion  against  Great  Britain.  He  is  by  trade 
a  hatter,  who  made  some  money  in  the  Mexican  war.  He  had 
lived  in  Saint  Louis  for  many  years,  simply  distinguished  for  his 
activity  in  grog-shop"  politics.  He  was  soon  in  the  market  on  the 
outbreak  of  the  war,  and  received  a  colonel's  commission.  Without 
courage,  military  knowledge,  or  experience,  he  entered  the  army  for 
the  purpose  of  murder  and  robbery. 

As  the  tool  of  McNeil,  W.  H.  Strachan  acted  in  the  capacity  of 
provost  marshal  general,  whose  enormities  exceed  anything  in  the 
wicked  annals  of  human  depravity.    . 

At  the  instigation  of  McNeil,  the  provost  marshal  went  to  the 
prison,  filled  with  quiet,  inoffensive  farmers,  and  selected  -ten  men 
of  age  and  respectability ;  among  the  rest  an  old  Judge  of  Knox 
county,  all  of  whom  had  helpless  families  at  home,  in  destitution 
and  unprotected. 

These  names,  which  should  be  remembered  as  among  the  victims 
of  the  reign  of  the  Monster  of  the  Christian  era,  were  as  follows: 

William  Baker,  Thomas  Huston,  Morgan  Bixler,  John  Y.  Mc- 
Pheeters  of  Lewis,  Herbert  Hudson,  John  M.  Wade,  Marion  Lavi 
of  Ralls,  Captain  Thomas  A.  Snyder  of  Monroe,  Eleazer  Lake  of 
Scotland,  and  Hiram  Smith  of  Knox  county,  were  sentenced  to  be 
shot  without  trial  or  any  of  the  forms  of  military  law,  by  a  military 
commander  wdiose  grade  could  not  have  given  ratification  to  a 
court-martial,  had  one  been  held;  had  the  parties  been  charged 
with  crime,' which  they  were  not. 

Mr.  Humphreys,  also  in  prison,  was  to  have  been  shot  instead  of 
one  of  those  named  above,  but  which  one  the  author  has  not  the 
means  of  knowing.  The  change  in  the  persons  transpired  in  this 
way: 

Early  on  the  morning  of  the  execution,  Mrs.  Mary  Humphreys 
came  to  see  her  husband  before  his  death,  to  intercede  for  his  re- 
lease. She  first  went  to  see  McNeil,  who  frowned,  stormed,  and 
let  loose  a  volley  of  such  horrible  oaths  at  her  for  daring  to  plead 
for  her  husband's  life  that  she  fled  away  through  fear,  and  when 


228  Southern  Historical  Society  Papers. 

she  closed  the  door,  the  unnameable  fiend  cursed  her  with  blasphe- 
mous assurances  that  her  husband  should  be  dispatched  to  hell  at 
one  o'clock.  The  poor  afirighted  woman,  with  bleeding  heart, 
hastened  to  the  provost  marshal's  office,  and  quite  fainted  away  as 
she  besought  him  to  intercede  with  McNeil  for  the  preservation  of 
her  husband's  life.  With  a  savage,  taunting  grin,  Strachan  said 
"  that  may  be  done,  madam,  by  getting  me  three  hundred  dollars." 
This  she  did  through  the  kindness  of  two  gentlemen,  who  advanced 
the  money  at  once. 

She  returned  with  the  money  and  paid  it  to  Strachan.  Mrs. 
Humphreys  had  her  little  daughter  by  her  side,  when  she  sank  into 
her  seat  with  exhaustion.  Scarcely  had  she  taken  her  place,  until 
Strachan  told  her  that  she  had  still  to  do  something  else  to  secure 
her  husband's  release.  At  this  moment  he  thrust  the  little  girl  out 
of  the  door  and  threatened  the  fainting  woman  with  the  execution 
of  her  husband.  She  fell  as  a  lifeless  corpse  to  the  floor.  After  he 
had  filled  his  pockets  with  money  and  satiated  his  lust,  the  provost 
marshal  released  poor  Hum2:»hreys.  Another  innocent  victim  was 
taken  in  his  place  to  cover  up  the  hideous  crime.  The  newspapers 
were  commanded  to  publish  the  falsehood  that  some  one  had  vol- 
unteered to  die  in  his  stead.  The  additional  murdered  man  was  a 
sacrifice  to  the  venality,  murder  and  rape  of  the  provost  marshal. 
The  victim  was  an  unobtrusive  young  man,  caught  up  and  dragged 
off  as  a  wild  beast  to  the  slaughter,  without  any  further  notice  than 
was  necessary  to  prepare  to  walk  from  the  jail  to  the  scene  of 
murder. 

The  other  eleven  were  notified  of  their  contemplated  murder 
some  eighteen  hours  before  the  appointed  moment  of  the  tragedy. 
Rev.  James  S.  Green,  of  the  city  of  Palmyra,  remained  with  them 
through  the  night. 

Between  eleven  and  twelve  o'clock  the  next  day,  three  Govern- 
ment wagons  drove  to  the  jail  with  ten  rough  boxes,  upon  which 
the  ten  martyrs  to  brutal  demonism  were  seated. 

This  appalling  spectacle  was  made  more  frightful  by  the  rough 
jeering  of  the  mercenaries  who  guarded  the  victims  to  the  place  of 
butchery.  The  jolting  wagons  were  driven  through  street  after 
street,  which  was  abandoned  by  every  human  being;  women  faint- 
ing at  the  awful  spectacle,  clasping  their  children  more  closely  to 
their  bosoms,  as  the  murderers,  with  blood  pictured  in  their  coun- 
tenances, were  screaming  in  hoarse  tones  the  word  of  command. 

The  company  of  stranger  adventurers,  mercenaries,  and  the  vilest 
resident  population,  formed  a  circle  at  the  scene,  in  imitation  of  the 
Roman  slaughter  in  the  time  of  Nero,  Caligula  and  Commodus,  to 
feast  their  sensual  eyes  on  blood  and  amuse  themselves  with  the 
piteous  shrieks  of  the  dying  men.  This  infernal  saturnalia  com- 
menced with  music.  Everything  was  done  which  might  harrow 
the  feelings  and  torture  the  soul.  The  rough  coffins  were  placed 
before  them  in  such  manner  as  to  excite  horror;  the  grave  ojiened 
its  yawning  mouth  to  terrify  them ;  but  they  stood  unmoved  amid 


Treatment  of  Prisoners  During  the  War.  229 

the  frenzied,  murderous  mob.  Captain  Snyder  was  dressed  in 
beautiful  black,  with  white  vest;  magnificent  head  covered  with 
rich  wavy  locks  that  fell  around  his  broad  shoulders  like  the  mane 
of  a  lion.  When  the  mercenaries  were  preparing  to  consummate 
this  horrible  crime,  they  at  last  seemed  conscious  of  the  character 
and  the  magnitude  of  this  awful  work,  grew  pale  and  trembled: 
even  the  brutal  Strachan  seemed  alarmed  at  his  own  nameless  and 
compounded  crimes  of  lust,  avarice  and  murder.  Rev.  Mr.  Rhodes, 
a  meek  and  unobtrusive  minister  of  the  Baptist  Church,  prayed 
with  the  d3nng  men,  and  Strachan  reached  out  his  bloody  hands  to 
bid  them  adieu.     They  generously  forgave  their  murderers. 

To  lengthen  out  the  cruel  tragedy,  the  guns  were  fired  at  different 
times  that  death  might  be  dealt  out  in  broken  periods.  Two  of 
the  men  were  killed  outright.  Captain  Snyder  sprang  to/his  feet, 
faced  the  soldiers,  pierced  their  cowardly  faces  with  his  unbandaged 
eagle  eye,  and  fell  forward  to  rise  no  more. 

The  other  seven  were  wounded,  mangled  and  butchered  in  detail, 
with  pistols;  whilst  the  ear  was  rent  with  their  piteous  groans,  pray- 
ing to  find  refuge  in  death.  The  whole  butchery  occupied  some 
fifteen  minutes. 

The  country  was  appalled  at  the  recital  of  these  crimes  and  in- 
credulous of  the  facts. 

The  newspapers  were  suppressed  to  jjrevent  their  publication, 
and  the  exposure  of  the  perpetrators.  The  punishment  of  the 
criminals  was  demanded  by  public  justice  and  expected  by  every- 
body except  the  criminals,  who  well  understood  the  cruelty  [and 
corruption  of  the  Executive  Department. 

To  cover  up  these  crimes  by  a  judicial  farce,  nearly  two  years 
afterwards  charges  were  preferred  against  Strachan;  he  was  con- 
victed upon  the  foregoing  state  of  facts,  and  sentence  passed  upon 
him.     The  sentence  was  remitted  and  Strachan  promoted. 

For  this  crime  McNeil  was  promoted  by  Lincoln  to  Brigadier- 
General  and  kept  in  office.  In  all  of  the  history  of  European  wars, 
Asiatic  butcheries,  Indian  cruelties,  and  negro  atrocities,  there  can 
be  found  no  parallel  instance  in  which  the  murder  of  men  without 
any  of  the  forms  of  trial,  was  accompanied  with  the  rape  of  the 
wives  of  those  designated  by  the  lottery  of  death  as  the  price  of  the 
husband's  liberty.  There  was  nothing  left  undone  to  make  the 
whole  scene  cruel,  loathsome,  and  revolting. 

This  outrage  unpunished,  gave  license  for  crime,  cruelty,  outrage 
and  disorder  everywhere.  It  would  require  the  pen  of  every  writer, 
the  paper  of  every  manufacturer,  for  a  year,  to  recount  them;  the 
human  imagination  sickens  in  contemplation  of  them. 

In  the  next  year  after  the  McNeil  butchery,  in  the  neighboring 
city  of  Hannibal,  occurred  a  similar  crime,  equally  monstrous  in 
its  details. 

J.  T.  K.  Heyward  commanded  a  body  of  enrolled  brigands  in 
Marion  county,  known  as  the  railroad  brigade,  who  foraged  uj)on 
the  people  and  plundered  the  country. 


230  Southern  Historical  Society  Papers. 

Hugh  B.  Bloom,  a  drunken  soldier  of  the  Federal  army,  returning 
to  his  regiment,  muttered  some  offensive  words  in  the  presence  of 
Heyward's  men.  Bloom  was  immediately  dragged  from  the  steam- 
boat upon  which  he  was  traveling  and  carried  before  Heyward. 

Heyward  improvised  a  military  court,  tried  the  drunken  man, 
and  condemned  him  to  immediate  death. 

Whilst  the  poor  wretch  was  unconscious  of  his  condition,  dis- 
qutilified  for  self-defence,  and  unable  to  understand  the  fearful 
nature  of  his  peril,  he  was  hurried  off  to  the  most  public  place  on 
the  river  side ;  the  people  of  the  town,  trembling  with  fear,  were 
compelled  to  witness  the  horrid  scene. 

The  worst  was  yet  to  come.  Old  and  respectable  citizens,  because 
known  for  their  quiet  demeanor  and  hatred  of  violence,  were  dragged 
down  tb  witness  the  horrid  spectacle.  Twelve  of  these  gentlemen 
were  presented  with  muskets,  and  commanded  to  fire  at  the  trem- 
bling inebriate  sitting  upon  his  cofhn. 

To  enforce  this  fiendish  order  to  make  private  gentlemen  commit 
public  murder,  Heyward's  brigands  were  placed  immediately  behind 
the  squad  of  private  citizens  and  commanded  to  fire  upon  the  first 
who  hesitated  to  fire  at  Bloom.  As  the  shuddering  man  sank  down 
beneath  the  terrible  volley  of  musketry,  Heyward  turned  upon  the 
people  and  warned  them  of  their  impending  fate  in  the  murder  of 
this  man. 

The  sj^ectacle  was  revolting  in  itself.  It  was  terrible  in  view  of 
the  fact,  that  these  militia  were  unauthorized  by  law  for  any  such 
purpose;  that  the  execution  was  without  the  shadow  of  law,  that 
the  victim  was  a  Union  soldier,  who  had  committed  no  offence; 
that  the  men  who  were  forced  to  do  this  horrid  work  were  unwilling 
to  commit  the  crime,  and  protested  against  being  made  the  instru- 
ments of  such  bloody  horror.  But  how  ineffably  shocking  that  the 
perpetrator,  Heyward,  should  be  a  member  of  a  Christian  church, 
and  assume  the  office  of  Sabbath-school  teacher;  that  little  children 
should  look  upon  the  horrible  visage  of  the  murderous  wretch  as 
their  instructor. 

This  Heyward,  secluded  from  the  inquiring  world,  overawing 
and  corrupting  the  press  of  his  own  neighborhood,  was  the  most 
Satanic  of  all  the  local  tyrants  of  Missouri. 

At  one  time  he  gathered  all  of  the  old  and  respectable  citizens  of 
Hannibal,  including  such  highly  cultivated  gentlemen  of  spotless 
escutcheon  as  Hon.  A.  W.  Lamb,  into  a  dilapidated,  falling  house, 
and  placed  powder  under  it  to  blow  it  to  atoms,  in  case  Hannibal 
should  be  visited  by  rebels. 

In  Monroe  county,  two  farmers  were  arrested  by  the  provost 
marshal's  guard,  taken  a  short  distance  from  home,  shot  down  and 
thrown  into  the  field  with  the  swine. 

On  the  next  day  the  recognized  fragments  of  the  bodies  were 
gathered  up  by  the  neighbors  and  carried  to  their  respective  houses, 
and  prepared  for  interment. 

The  citizens  were  so  respectable,  the  murder  so  brutal,  the  outrage 


Treatment  of  Prisoners  During  the  War.  231 

so  revolting,  that  people  gathered  from  a  long  distance  around  to 
bury  in  decency  the  remains  of  those  who  had  been  so  shockingly 
destroyed. 

When  the  funeral  procession  had  been  formed,  the  provost  mar- 
shal sent  his  guard  to  disperse  them;  declaring  that  no  person 
opposed  to  the  war  should  have  public  burial. 

The  heart-broken  families  had  to  go  unattended  to  the  grave  of 
their  respective  dead;  each  one  dreading  the  danger  that  beset  the 
highway  upon  their  return  home-;  and  feeling  even  more  in  danger 
from  marauders  in  the  secret  chambers  of  their  own  domicil. 

During  this  drunken  reign  of  horrors,  innocent  people  were  shot 
down  upon  their  door  sills,  called  into  their  gardens  upon  pretended 
business,  butchered  and  left  lying,  that  tlieir  families  might  not 
know  their  whereabouts  uutil  their  bodies  were  decomposed. 
Women  were  ravished,  houses  burned,  plantations  laid  waste. 

Judge  Richardson  was  shot  whilst  in  the  courthouse  in  which 
he  presided,  in  Scotland  county.  Rev.  Wm.  Headlee,  a  minister  of 
the  gospel,  was  shot  upon  the  highway;  and  all  of  these  murderers, 
robbers  and  incendiaries,  are  yet  a  large. 

Dr.  Glasscock,  a  physician,  was  dragged  from  his  own  house  by 
soldiers,  under  pretence  of  taking  him  to  court  as  a  witness,  against 
the  earnest  prayers  of  his  children  and  slaves,  was  shot,  mangled, 
disfigured  and  mutilated,  then  brought  to  his  own  yard  and  thrown 
down  like  a  dead  animal. 

To  prevent  punishment  by  law,  these  criminals  repealed  the  laws 
against  their  crimes;  and  provided  in  the  constitution  that  crime 
should  go  unpunished  if  committed  by  themselves. 

To  make  themselves  secure  in  their  crime  and  to  give  immunity 
from  punishment,  they  disfranchised  the  masses  of  the  people;  and 
in  the  city  of  Saint  Louis  the  criminal  vote  elected  the  criminal 
McNeil  as  the  sheriff  of  the  county  of  Saint  Louis — the  tool  of  the 
weakest  and  most  malignant  tyrants. 

milroy's  order. 
Saint  George,  Tucker  Co.,  Va.,  November  28th,  1862. 
Mr.  Adam  Harper  : 

Sir — In  consequence  of  certain  robberies  which  have  been  com- 
mitted on  Union  citizens  of  this  county  by  bands  of  guerrillas,  you 
are  hereby  assessed  to  the  amount  ($285.00)  two  hundred  and 
eighty-five  dollars,  to  make  good  their  losses ;  and  upon  your  failure 
to  comply  Avith  the  above  assessment  by  the  8th  day  of  December, 
the  following  order  has  been  issued  to  me  by  Brigadier-General 
K.  H.  Milroy: 

You  are  to  burn  their  houses,  seize  all  their  property  and  shoot 
them.     You  will  be  sure  that  you  strictly  carry  out  this  order. 

You  will  inform  the  inhabitants  for  ten  or  fifteen  miles  around 
your  camp,  on  all  the  roads  approaching  the  town  upon  which  the 
enemy  may  approach,  that  they  must  dash  in  and  give  you  notice, 


232  Southern  Historical  Society  Papers. 

and  upon  any  one  failing  to  do  so,  you  will  burn  their  houses  and 
shoot  the  men. 

By  order  Brigadier-General  R.  H.  Milroy, 

H,  Kellog,  Captain  Commanding  Post. 

Mr.  Harper  was  an  old  gentlemen,  over  82  years  of  age,  a  cripple, 
and  can  neither  read  nor  write  the  English  language,  though  a 
good  German  scholar.  This  gentlemen  was  one  of  twelve  children, 
had  served  in  the  war  of  1812,  was  the  son  of  a  Revolutionary 
soldier  who  bore  his  musket  during  the  whole  war,  inherited  a 
woodland  tract,  and  built  up  a  substantial  home  in  the  midst  of 
Western  Virginia. 

His  was  only  one  of  a  class  which  swept  over  West  Virginia,  and 
left  the  beautiful  valleys  of  Tygart  and  the  Potomac  rivers  in  ashes 
and  desolation. 

It  is  to  pay  for  crimes  like  these,  and  keep  in  employment  the 
men  who  committed  them,  that  created  the  debt  now  weighing  the 
people  down.  It  was  to  pay  such  monsters,  with  their  tools,  that 
money  was  refunded  by  the  General  Government  to  the  State  of 
Missouri  and  West  Virginia,  and  the  taxes  saddled  upon  the  people 
of  the  country. 

The  following  letter  gives  its  own  explanation : 

Macon,  Georgia,  October  7, 18G7. 
Henry  Clay  Dean,  Monnt  Pleasant,  Iowa  : 

Dear  Sir — I  have  read  your  late  communication  addressed  to 
"The  prisoners  of  war,  and  victims  of  arbitrary  arrests  in  the 
United  States  of  America." 

You  allege  that  "the  Congress  of  the  United  States  refused  to 
extend  the  investigation  contemplated  by  a  resolution,  adopted  by 
that  body  on  the  10th  of  July,  1867,  appointing  certain  parties  to 
investigate  the  treatment  of  prisoners  of  war  and  Union  citizens 
held  by  the  Confederate  authorities  during  the  rebellion,  to  the 
prisoners  of  war,  victims  of  'arbitrary  power  and  military  usurpa- 
tion by  the  authority  of  the  Federal  Administration.'" 

Appreciating  your  object  "to  put  the  truth  upon  the  record,"  and 
concurring  in  your  patriotic  suggestion  that  "it  is  the  duty  of  every 
American  to  look  to  the  honor  of  his  country  and  the  preservation 
of  the  truth  of  history,"  I  have  felt  constrained  to  respond  to  the 
call  made  in  your  circular,  so  far  as  to  acquaint  the  public,  through 
you,  with  the  following  precise,  simple,  and  unexaggerated  state- 
ment of  facts: 

When  the  Capitol  of  the  Confederate  States  was  evacuated,  the 
specie  belonging  to  the  Richmond  banks  was  removed,  with  the 
archives  of  the  Government,  to  Washington,  Georgia.  Early  after 
the  close  of  the  war,  a  wagon  train  conveying  this  specie  from 
Washington  to  Abbeville,  South  Carolina,  was  attacked  and  robbed 
of  an  amount  approximating  to  $100,000,  by  a  body  of  disbanded 
cavalry  of  the  Confederate  army. 


Treatment  of  Prisoners  During  the  War.  233 

A  few  weeks  subsequent  to  this  event,  Brigadier-General  Edward 
A.  Wild,  with  an  escort  consisting  of  twelve  negro  soldiers,  under 
the  command  of  Lieutenant  Seaton,  of  Captain  Alfred  Cooley's 
company  (156th  Regiment  of  New  York  Volunteers),  repaired  to 
the  scene  of  the  robbery  in  the  vicinity  of  Danburg,  Wilkes  county, 
Georgia.  By  the  order  of  General  Wild,  and  in  his  presence,  A.  D. 
Chenault,  a  Methodist  minister,  weighing  275  pounds,  his  brother, 
John  N.  Chenault,  of  moderate  size,  and  a  son  of  the  latter,  only 
15  years  of  age,  but  weighing  230  pounds,  were  arrested  and  taken 
to  an  adjacent  wood,  where  the  money  abstracted  from  the  train, 
or  a  portion  of  it,  was  supposed  to  be  concealed.  Failing  to  pro- 
duce the  money  upon  the  order  of  General  Wild,  these  three  citizens, 
who  enjoy  the  esteem  and  confidence  of  all  who  know  them,  were 
suspended  by  their  thumbs,  with  the  view  of  extorting  confessions  as 
to  the  place  of  its  concealment.  Mr.  John  N.  Chenault  was  twice 
subjected  to  this  torture,  and  on  one  occasion  until  he  fainted,  and 
was  then  cut  down.  Rev.  A.  D.  Chenault  was  also  hung  up  twice 
by  his  thumbs,  and  until  General  Wild  was  induced  only  by  his 
groans  and  cries  to  release  him  from  his  agony.  The  youth,  A.  F. 
Chenault,  was  hung  up  once,  and  until  he  exhibited  evident  signs 
of  fainting,  Avhen  he  was  cut  down.  Wliilst  this  scene  was  being 
enacted.  General  Wild  and  his  subaltern  were  both  present,  direct- 
ing the  whole  operations.  These  citizens,  with  the  exception  of 
John  N.  Chenault,  who  was  unable  to  be  removed,  were  then  sent 
under  guard  to  Washington,  fifteen  miles  distant. 

By  order  of  General  Wild,  a  daughter  of  John  N.  Chenault,  about 
the  age  of  seventeen  years,  universally  beloved  in  her  neighborhood, 
and  distinguished  for  her  piety,  was  searched,  by  being  stripped,  in 
the  presence  of  the  Lieutenant,  who  was  charged  with  the  execution 
of  the  order.  When  her  garments,  piece  by  piece,  were  taken  from 
her  and  the  very  last  one  upon  her  was  reached,  in  the  instincts  of 
her  native  modesty,  she  threw  herself  upon  a  bed  and  sought  to 
conceal  her  person  with  its  covering,  she  was  ordered  to  stand  out 
upon  the  floor  until  stripped  to  perfect  nakedness. 

By  order  of  General  IHM,  the  wife  of  John  N.  Chenault  was 
arrested  and  taken  under  guard  to  Washington,  where  she  was  in- 
carcerated for  several  days,  fed  on  bread  and  water,  in  one  of  the 
petit  jury  rooms  of  the  courthouse,  and  after  she  had  been  forced 
to  leave  at  her  home  her  nursing  infant,  but  nine  months  old,  where 
it  continued  to  remain  until  its  mother  was  released. 

During  the  period  of  her  imprisonment,  General  Wild  was  waited 
upon  at  his  hotel  by  three  citizens  of  the  county,  to  wit:  Francis 
G.  Wingfield,  Richard  T.  Walton,  and  your  correspondent,  who 
importuned  this  ofiicer  to  permit  one  of  the  party  to  take  Mrs. 
Chenault  to  his  residence  in  the  village,  each  pledging  his  neck,  and 
all  tendering  bond,  with  security  in  any  amount  which  he  would 
be  pleased  to  nominate,  for  her  appearance  at  any  time  and  place 
in  obedience  to  his  order.  This  request  General  Wild  promptly  and 
emphatically  refused,  but  graciously  allowed  her  friends  to  supply 
her  with  suitable  food  at  the  place  of  her  confinement. 


234  Southern  Historical  Society  Papers. 

The  tortures  and  indignities  thus  inflicted  upon  this  family,  who  I 
are  respected  and  esteemed  by  all  who  know  them,  failed  to  discover  j 
any  evidence  whatever  of  their  complicity  in  the  robbery,  or  any  ;i 
knowledge  of  the  concealment  of  any  of  its  fruits.  ' 

The  facts  thus  detailed  were  reported  in  substance  to  Major-Gen-  \ 
eral  James  B.  Steadman,  then  on  duty  at  Augusta,  Georgia,  who  j 
immediately  ordered  his  Inspector-General  (whose  name  is  not  re-j! 
membered)  to  Washington,  with  instructions  to  collect  the  evidence 
as  to  the  truth  of  the  representations  made  to  him.  After  spending  i 
several  days  at  Washington  and  its  vicinity,  in  the  examination  of  j 
witnesses,  this  officer  observed  that  the  facts  which  he  had  elicited  i 
fully  corroborated  the  statements  which  had  been  forwarded  to 
General  Steadman. 

General  Wild  was  removed  by  the  order  of  General  Steadman, 
and   ordered   to  Washington  city.     Charges   were  also   preferred 
against  him,  but  the  public  is  not  advised  that  even  as^niuch  as  a ;: 
reprimand  was  ever  administered  to  him. 

The  foregoing  statement  of  f;icts  will  be  avouched  by  many 
citizens  of  Washington,  and  of  Wilkes  and  Lincoln  counties.  You 
are  respectfully  referred  to  James  M.  Dyson,  Gabriel  Toombs,  Green 
P.  Cozart,  Hon.  Garnett  Andrews,  Dr.  J.  J.  Robertson,  Dr.  James 
H.  Lane,  Dr.  J.  B.  Ficklin,  Richard  T.  Walton,  Dr.  John  Haynes 
Walton  and  David  G.  Cotting,  the  present  editor  of  the  Rejyubllcan, 
at  Augusta. 

Prompted  by  no  spirit  of  personal  malevolence,  but  in  obedience 
alone  to  the  instinct  of  a  virtuous  patriotism,  I  have  thus  "a  round 
unvarnished  tale  delivered"  of  some  of  the  actings  and  doings  of 
this  officer,  studiously  refraining  from  any  denunciation,  and  sup- 
pressing every  suggestion  the  least  calculated  to  excite  the  prejudices 
or  inflame  the  passions  of  the  public. 
I  am,  very  respectfully, 

Your  obedient  servant,  John  B.  Weems. 

An  attempt  to  record  the  crimes  committed  during  the  civil  war 
would  fill  volumes  and  excite  horror. 

We  can  only  indicate  the  crimes  rather  than  give  detail  of  their 
circumstances. 

One  gentleman  from  Vicksburg  writes  in  justly  indignant  language 
of  the  rape  and  robbery  of  his  wife;  that  he  has  sought  redress  in 
vain  of  the  military  authorities.     Another  of  the  violation  of  two 
ladies  by  beastly  mercenaries,  until  one  dies,  and  the  other  lives  a  ' 
raving  maniac. 

A  lady  writes  from  Lil^erty,  Missouri,  that  her  father,  Mr.  Payne, 
a  minister  of  Christ,  was  murdered  by  the  military  and  left  out 
from  his  dwelling  for  several  days,  until  found  by  some  neighbors 
in  a  mutilated  condition. 

A  gentleman  writes  that  a  wretch  named  Harding  boasts  that  he 
had  beaten  out  the  brains  of  a  wounded  Confederate  prisoner  at 
the  battle  of  Drainesville. 


Treatment  of  Prisoners  During  the  War.  235 

The  affidavit  of  Thomas  E.  Gilkerson  states  that  negro  soldiers 
liwere  promoted  to  corporals  for  shooting  white  prisoners  at  Point 
t  Lookout,  where  he  was  a  prisoner. 

That  be  was  transferred  to  Elmira,  New  York,  where  prisoners 
were  starved  into  skeletons;  were  reduced  to  the  necessity  of  rob- 
bing the  night-stool  of  the  meats  which,  being  spoiled,  could  not 
be  eaten  by  the  sick,  was  thrown  into  the  bucket  of  excrements, 
taken  out  and  washed  to  satisfy  their  distressing  hunger. 

That  for  inquiring  of  Lieutenant  Whitney,  of  Rochester,  New 
York,  for  some  clothes  which  the  deponent  believed  were  sent  to 
him  in  a  box,  the  deponent  was  confined  three  days  in  a  dungeon 
land  fed  on  bread  and  water. 

I!  That  two  men  in  ward  twenty -two  were  starved  until  they  eat  a 
Jkiog,  for  which  offence  they  were  severely  punished. 
ij  That  negroes  were  placed  on  guard.  That  while  on  guard,  a 
i'negro  called  a  prisoner  over  the  dead  line,  which  the  prisoner  did 
(not  recognize  as  such, -and  the  negro  shot  him  dead,  and  went 
lunpunished. 

i     That  shooting  prisoners  without  cause  or  provocation,  was  of 
jtfrequent  occurrence  by.  the  negro  guards. 

f     This  affidavit  was  taken  before  Daniel  Jackson,  Justice  of  the 
I  Peace. 

j     Joseph  Hetterphran,  from  Fayetteville,  Georgia,  writes  that  he 
was  captured  on  the  27th  of  January,  1864,  in  East  Tennessee; 
Sisearched  and  robbed  with  his  companions  of  everything.     They 
I  were  hurried  by  forced  marches  to  Knoxville,  nearly  frozen  and 
i  starved ;  were  then  confined  in  the  penitentiary,  where  the  treat- 
ment all  the  time  grew  worse ;  were  finally  taken  to  Rock  Island, 
where  he  had  no  blanket,  was  stinted  in  fuel,  food  and  raiment. 
In  this  horrible  place  the  prisoners  ate  dogs  and  rats.     The  poor 
I'fellows  tried  to  get  the  crumbs  that  fell  from  the  bread  wagons;  a 
great  many  died  of  diseases  induced  by  starvation:  others  starved 
outright.     In  the  meantime  the  sutler  would  sell  provisions  to  the 
rich  Confederates,  whilst  the  poor  were  driven  to  starvation.     This 
prison  was  guarded  by  negroes  for  a  considerable  time.     The  negroes 
;'frequently  shot  the  prisoners  down  through  wantonness,  just  as 
they  did  at  Elmira.     The  officer  who  led  negroes  to  kill  the  people 
jof  his  own  race,  can  sink  to  no  lower  depth  of  degradation. 
I      Henry  J.  Moses  writes  from  Woodbine,  Texas,  that  he  was  taken 
I  prisoner  at  Gaines'  Farm,  near  Richmond,  Virginia,  and  confined 
at  Point  Lookout  during  the  month  of  May,  1864,  and  then  taken 
to  Fort  Delaware,  Avhere  he  remained  until  the  24th  of  August. 
When  General  Foster  demanded  the  removal  of  six  hundred  of 
the  prisoners,  they  were  placed  on  board  the  steamer  Crescent,  and 
kept  in  the  hold  seventeen  days,  suffocating  with  heat,  drinking 
bilge  water,  and  eating  salt  pork  and  crackers  in  very  stinted  allow- 
ances.    The  hatchway  was  frequently  closed,  and  all  of  the  horrors 
of  the  African  slave  trade  revived  in  their  persons  and  treatment. 
After  enduring  this  terrible  form  of  torture,  they  were  placed  on 


236  Southern  Historical  Society  Papers. 

Morris'  Island,  under  the  fire  of  their  own  guns  for  forty-three  days,' 
guarded  by  negroes.     The  dead  line  rope  was  stretched  as  a  pre-' 
text  for  shooting  those  who  should  even  by  accident  touch  it. 
Taunts,  gibes,  jeers,  and  insults  of  every  kind  were  heaped  upon 
the  prisoners.     Paul  H.  Earle,  of  Alabama,  for  no  offence  whatever, 
was  shot  at;  another  time  the  tent  was  fired  into,  and  two  sleeping' 
soldiers  badly  wounded,  by  order  of  the  lieutenant.     As  it  always 
has  been  and  ever  will  be,  the  negroes  behaved  much  better  than 
the  v/hite  fiends  who  commanded  them.     How  could  it  be  other- 
wise?    A  man  raised  in  Christian  communities  who  would  let  loose 
barbarians  to  bin-n  up  and  destroy  the  habitations  of  women  and  \ 
children  of  his  own  race,  has  not  one  conceivable  iota  of  space 
in  which  to  sink  deeper  in  degradation. 

After  all  of  the  acts  of  cruelty  and  ingenuity  to  starve  these  poor 
fellows,  they  were  finally  confined  in  Fort  Pulaski,  fed  upon  a  pint 
of  musty  kiln-dried  corn,  with  a  rotten  pickle  eacli  day.  On  this 
diet  they  were  kept  for  forty-four  days,  when  the  scurvy  broke  out 
and  killed  over  two  hundred  of  the  number.  After  such  loathsome 
sufi'ering  as  makes  human  nature  shudder,  incarcerated  in  damp 
cells  without  blankets,  some  with  no  coats,  Mr.  Moses  adds  that 
"nothing  but  the  preserving  hand  of  God  kept  us  through  those 
trying  hours."  How  much  greater  was  the  crime  of  a  Christian 
people,  that  the  ministry  in  the  peaceful  regions  were  inflaming 
this  horrible  work,  instead  of  alleviating  the  suflerings  of  the  peo- 
ple. Added  to  all  of  the  other  atrocious  crimes  and  cruelties,  the 
insane  were  in  like  manner  tortured.  An  old  gentleman  named 
Fitzgerald,  infirm  and  insane,  who  ate  opium  to  alleviate  his  pain, 
was  denied  his  medicine  for  which  he  begged,  until  death  kindly 
came  to  open  the  prison  doors  and  release  him  from  his  agony. 
The  prisoners  say  that  Foster  instigated  these  cruelties.  Tlie  names 
and  references  of  the  parties  clothe  the  whole  statement  with  an 
unmistakable  semblance  of  truth.  The  corroboration  is  con- 
clusive. 

John  L.  Waring,  of  Brandywine,  Prince  George's  count}^,  Mary- 
land, states  that  he  was  a  prisoner  of  war  for  more  than  two  years; 
that  a  private  soldier  killed  in  his  presence  an  inofiTensive  prisoner 
in  Carroll  prison,  who  sat  by  the  window,  and  was  j^romoted  from 
the  ranks  to  corporal  for  the  crime. 

Forney's  Chronicle,  in  noticing  the  death,  and  apologizing  for  the 
crime,  falsely  stated  that  young  Hardcastle,  the  prisoner  killed,  was 
cursing  the  guard. 

The  room-mate  of  Hardcastle,  who,  like  Hardcastle,  had  been 
arrested  upon  no  charges  whatever,  soon  after  this  murder  was 
released,  but  died  shortly  after  in  consequence  of  the  cruel  prison 
treatment. 

Mr.  Waring  was  removed  from  Carroll  prison  to  Point  Lookout, 
where  the  prisoners  were  detailed  to  load  and  unload  vessels;  were 
robbed  by  negroes  of  the  trinkets  made  in  prison;  some  were  shot 
by  negroes,  carpet  sacks  were  robbed  of  clothing,  and  hospital 


Treatment  of  Pi'isoners  During  the  War.  237 

jstewards  and  sanitary  commissions  ate  the  provisions  sent  to  pris- 
ioners  and  soldiers,  or  extorted  exorbitant  prices  from  the  person 
'to  whom  they  had  been  sent. 

!  The  negroes  offered  every  manner  of  indignity  to  the  prisoners. 
'Among  other  crimes  they  shot  a  dying  man  on  his  attempt  to  re- 
jilieve  nature.  Tlie  conduct  of  tlie  negroes  at  Point  Lookout  was 
lincited  by  their  white  officers  until  it  was  frightful. 
j  Henry  H.  Knight  writes  from  Gary,  Wake  county,  North  Carqlina, 
th^i  he  was  captured  at  Gettysburg,  taken  to  Fort  Delaware,  and 
Buflfiered  all  that  cold  and  mud  could  inflict  ujDon  their  comfort  and 
pon;\'enience.  He  was  driven  from  poorly  warmed  stoves  by  Fed- 
;^r?;l  officers.  The  soldiers  were  beaten,  starved  and  frozen  to  death, 
jBeven  were  frozen  one  morning ;  others  of  them  went  to  the  hos- 
.pital  and  died.  At  other  times  they  were  driven  through  the  water, 
■and  were  alternately  robbed,  frozen,  tortured  and  starved.  The 
igreat  amount  sent  them  by  relatives  was  appropriated  by  the  guards 
,|fbr  their  own  use;  and  if  they  made  complaint,  the  prisoners  were 
'shot,  and  the  improbable  story  told  that  they  had  run  guard,  and 
'(that  would  be  the  last  of  their  crime  heard  in  the  fort  against  the 
jiguards. 

j  Some  of  these  poor  fellows  were  whole  days  without  fire,  when 
ifthe  snow  was  a. foot  deep,  or  the  water  covering  the  ground.  The 
'author  saw  hundreds  of  these  prisoners  in  the  city  of  Pittsburg  in 
tthe  early  summer  of  1865,  on  their  way  to  the  Southwest,  in  the 
Imost  loathsome  condition.  Their  pitiable  suffering  and  mournful 
stories  were  sickening,  and  would  crimson  the  cheek  with  unuttera- 
']ble  shame  and  horror.  No  words  can  portray  the  picture  that  he 
jsaw  with  his  own  eyes.  Swollen  gums,  teeth  dropping  from  the 
ijaws,  eyes  bursting  with  scurvy,  limbs  paralyzed,  hair  falling  off 
of  the  heads,  frozen  hands  and  feet.  These  were  those  that  escaped. 
The  dead  concealed  the  crimes  of  the  murderers  in  the  grave  which 
was  closed  upon  them,  by  hundreds. 

W.  C.  Osborn,  of  Opelika,  Alabama,  states  that  he  was  captured 
on  the  4th  of  July,  1863,  and  confined  in  Fort  Delaware ;  that  the 
rations  were  three  crackers  twice  a  day;  most  of  the  time  no  meat 
at  all,  but  occasionally  a  very  small  piece  of  salt  beef  or  pork, 
IThat  he  drank  water  within  fifteen  feet  of  the  excrement  of  the 
fort,  and  could  get  no  other.  When  cold  weather  returned,  the 
beds  of  each  man  were  searched,  and  only  one  blanket  left  him. 
The  barracks  were  inferior,  and  men  froze  to  death  in  the  terrible 
winter  of  1863-4.  Prisoners  were  shot  for  the  most  trivial  offences. 
One  man's  brains  were  blown  out  and  scattered  on  the  walls,  where 
the}''  remained  for  many  days,  for  no  offence  other  than  looking 
.over  the  bounds,  unconsciously.  For  other  offences,  men  were 
'tied  up  by  the  thumbs  just  so  that  their  toes  might  touch  the 
ground,  for  three  hours  at  a  time,  until  they  would  turn  black  in 
the  face.  Others  were  placed  astride  of  joists,  and  forced  to  remain 
in  that  attitude  for  hours  at  a  time,  the  coldest  weather.  These 
crimes  against  the  persons  of  the  prisoners,  and  their  starvation, 


238  Southern  Historical  Society  Papers.  I 

were  carefully  concealed  from  the  public  eye,  and  the  Philadelphia  | 
papers  made  every  effort  to  deceive  the  public  in  regard  to  these  ' 
matters..    On  inspection  days,  when  the  people  were  admitted  to 
the  grounds,  the  prisoners  got  three  times  as  much  as  upon  other 
days.     This  was  done  to  delude  the  people  of  the  country,  who 
never  had  any  sympathy  with  these  horrible  crimes. 

Presley  N.  Morris,  of  Henry  county,  Georgia,  was  captured  by  \ 
"Wilder's  brigade,  was  divested  of  ever3'thing,  marched  five  days  on   ' 
one  Aieal  each  day,  carried  through  filthy  cars  to  Camp  Morton, 
Indiana,  on  the  19th  of  October,  1863,  where  he  was  imprisoned  .. 
in  an  old  horse  stable  on  the  Fair  Ground,  without  blanket,  thinly 
clad,  and  without  fire,  until  January,  1864,  when  he  received  one 
blanket;  his  body  covered  with  rags  and  vermin,  when  the  snow 
was  from  six  to  ten  inches  deep.     Two  stoves  were  all  that  was 
used  to  warm  three  hundred  men,  and  then  wood  for  half  the  time 
only  was  allowed.     The  prisoners  were  compelled  to  remain  out 
in  the  cold  in  this  condition  from  nine  o'clock,  A.  M.,  to  four  o'clock, 
P.  M.,  no  difference  what  was  the  condition  of  the  weather.     In 
October,  1864,  the  prisoners  were  drawn  up  in  line,  stripped  of  all  I 
their  bedding,  except  one  blanket,  and  robbed  of  all  money ;  and 
Mr.  Morris  was  robbed  of  three  hundred  dollars,  with  other  val- 
uables, none  of  which  were  ever  returned ;  was  beaten  over  the 
head  because  a  piece  of  money  was  found  near  his  feet,  by  one 
Fifer.     Money  sent  him  was  j^urloined  by  the  officers  through 
whose  hands  it  came. 

Another  says  he  belonged  to  Grigsby's  regiment;  was  sent  to 
Camp  Morton ;  and  corroborates  the  statement  of  Mr.  Morris  in 
regard  to  Camp  Morton.  He  was  soon,  after  his  capture,  sent  to 
Camp  Douglas  near  Chicago.  In  this  place  the  prisoners  were  shot 
at  by  sharpshooters  and  Indians ;  sometimes  were  kept  in  close 
confinement  for  forty-eight  hours.  Sometimes  a  half  dozen  pris- 
oners were  placed  upon  a  rude  machine  called  "Morgan's  horse,"  ^ 
which  was  very  sharp,  and  compelled  to  sit  more  than  two  hours 
at  a  time,  with  weights  to  their  legs.  Others  were  tied  up  by  their 
thumbs.  Tliey  were  searched  once  every  week.  The  prisoners 
were  whipped  with  leather  straps  and  sticks,  after  the  manner  of 
whipping  brutes.  Upon  one  occasion,  when  a  guard  discovered  a 
beef  bone  thrown  from  the  window  of  number  six,  he  made  all  of 
the  prisoners  form  in  line  and  touch  tlie  ground  with  the  forefinger 
without  bending  the  knee.  All  who  could  not  do  tliis  were  beaten. 
A  young  man  was  shot  for  picking  up  snow  to  quench  his  thirst, 
when  the  hydrant  had  been  closed  for  several  days.  New  and 
•cruel  punishments  were  inflicted,  as  whim,  passion,  or  pure  ma- 
lignity indicated. 

AVm.  Howard,  a  Baptist  minister,  sixty  years  of  age,  of  Graves 
county,  Kentucky,  was  taken,  with  his  daughters,  and  beaten  over 
the  head  with  a  sabre,  until  the  sabre  was  broken;  and  he  was 
otherwise  cruelly  treated. 

Lucius  T.  Harding  writes  that  on  the  14th  of  October  the  large 


Ty^eatment  of  Prisoners  During  the  War.  239 

steamer  General  Foster  came  to  his  place.  The  sailors  entered  the 
house,  kicked  his  sick  children,  and  robbed  him  of  ever3'thing. 
That  white  officers  led  negro  raids  into  Westmoreland  and  Rich- 
mond counties.  Women  were  violated  wherever  they  were  caught 
by  the  negroes  with  the  utmost  impunity. 

N.  D.  Hall,  of  Larkinville,  Alabama,  a  soldier  of  Western  Vir- 
ginia, during  Hunter's,  Crook's  and  Averill's  horrible  desolation  of 
Virginia,  says  that  the  rebels  found  a  negro  man  and  child,  both 
dead,  and  a  negro  woman  stripped  naked,  whose  bleeding  person 
had  been  outraged  by  Averill's  men. 

That  Averill's  men  offered  to  give  to  Dr.  Patton's  wife,  in  Green- 
brier county.  West  Virginia,  fifteen  negro  children  which  they  had 
stolen,  and  which  she  refused  to  take  from  them.  To  rid  themselves 
of  the  burden,  and  the  children  from  suffering,  they  were  thrown 
into  Greenbrier  river. 

In  the  valley  below  Staunton,  Crook's  men  tied  an  old  gentle- 
man, and  violated  his  only  daughter  in  his  presence,  until  she 
fainted. 

In  Bedford  county  he  saw  the  corpse  of  one,  and  the  other  sister 
a  raving  maniac,  from  violation  of  their  persons.  Desolation  was 
left  in  the  trail  of  these  men. 

An  aged  and  respectable  minister  was  hanged  in  Middletown, 
Virginia,  by  military  order,  for  shooting  a  soldier  in  the  attempt 
to  violate  his  daughter  in  his  own  house  in  Greenbrier  county. 

David  Nelson,  of  Jackson,  was  shot  because  his  son  was  in  the 
Confederate  army. 

Another  person  named  Peters,  a  mere  boy,  was  shot  for  having  a 
pistol  hidden. 

Garland  A.  Snead,  of  Augusta,  Georgia,  said  he  was  taken  pris- 
oner at  Fisher's  Hill,  Virginia,  September,  1864;  sent  to  Point 
Lookout,  which  was  in  the  care  of  one  Brady,  who  had  been  an 
officer  of  negro  cavalry. 

He  was  starved  for  five  days,  had  chronic  diarrhoea  ;  was  forced 
to  use  bad  water,  the  good  water  being  refused  them.  Men  died 
frequently  of  sheer  neglect.  He  was  sent  off  to  make  room  for 
other  prisoners,  because  he  was  believed  to  be  in  a  dying  condition; 
as  it  was  manifestly  the  purpose  to  poison  all  that  could  be  de- 
stroyed by  deleterious  food  and  water,  or  by  neglect  of  their 
wants. 

He  said  that  negroes  fired  into  their  beds  at  night;  and  one 
was  promoted  for  killing  a  prisoner,  from  the  ranks  to  sergeant. 

Claiborne  Snead,  of  Augusta,  Georgia,  writes  from  Johnson's  Is- 
land, that  prisoners  were  frequently  shot  without  an  excuse;  that 
prisoners  having  the  small-pox  were  brought  to  Johnson's  Island 
on  purpose  to  inoculate  the  rest  of  the  prisoners,  and  that  many 
died  of  that  disease;  a  crime  for  which  civilized  government  visits 
the  most  terrible  penalties.  Yet  this  disease,  thus  planted,  was 
kept  there  until  it  had  spent  its  force. 

That  the  rations  were  bad,  and  prisoners  went  to  bed  suffering 
the  pangs  of  hunger. 


240  Southern  Historical  Society  Papers. 

That  although  Lake  Erie  was  not  one  hundred  j'ards  distant,  yet 
these  prisoners  were  forced  to  drink  from  three  holes  dug  in  the 
prison  bounds,  surrounded  by  twenty-six  sinks,  the  filth  of  which 
oozed  into  the  water.  This  treatment,  in  no  wise  better  than  the 
inoculation  of  small-pox,  and  even  more  loathsome  than  that 
disease,  caused  many  prisoners  to  contract  chronic  diarrhoea  in  a 
countr}^  where  that  disease  is  not  common. 

It  is  impossible  for  human  language  to  portray  the  horrible  crim- 
inality of  the  wicked  men  who  inflicted  these  tortures  upon  human 
beings,  and  at  the  same  time  caused  the  detention  of  Northern 
prisoners  in  loathsome  Southern  prisons,  through  a  fiendish  love 
of  suffering;  and  the  unwillingness  to  have  exchanges,  paroles, 
and  releases  granted  to  the  unfortunate,  innocent  men  of  both 
armies,  unnaturally  led  to  mutual  destruction.  What  apology 
can  the  infidel  ministry  of  the  country  offer  for  such  crimes? 
and  upon  their  head  must  the  curse  ever  rest  who  sustained  these 
thieves. 

J.  C.  Moore,  son  of  Colonel  David  Moore,  of  the  Federal  army, 
writes  that  he  was  taken  prisoner  at  Helena,  Arkansas,  July  4, 
1863,  with  1,750  prisoners.  The  poor  fellows,  half  starved,  were 
met  at  Saint  Louis  by  a  supply  of  apples,  cakes,  tobacco  and 
money.  The  officer  having  them  in  charge  threatened  the  boys 
with  imprisonment,  who  extended  these  friendships  to  these  un- 
fortunate men.  That  he  was  taken  to  the  Alton  prison,  where 
men  were  kept  with  ball  and  chain  at  work  in  the  street,  for  mere 
peccadilloes,  where  the  keepers  shot  their  victims  and  stabbed  them, 
with  all  of  the  indignities  usual  in  the  prisons  everywhere,  which 
seemed  under  control  of  no  military,  but  rather  governed  by  the 
instigation  of  the  devil. 

L.  P.  Hall  and  Wm.  Perry,  of  Chico  Butte,  California,  were  arrested ; 
had  their  press  destroyed;  were  handcuffed  together  in  Jackson, 
Amada  county,  with  ball  and  chain  attached  to  their  legs,  and 
driven  to  labor  on  the  Public  Works  at  Alcatross.  Fifty-two  others 
were  treated  in  like  manner.  Hall  and  Perry  were  finally  discharged 
without  charges  or  trial.  In  the  persons  of  these  gentlemen,  were 
violated  all  the  rights  of  freedom  of  person,  of  the  press,  of  speech, 
and  finally  they  were  starved,  and  released  after  enduring  the  most 
offensive  insults  at  the  hands  of  a  cowardly  enemy.  This  crime 
transpired  in  California,  where  war  had  not  gone,  and  their  im- 
prisonment was  without  pretence. 

T.  Walton  Mason,  of  Adairville,  Logan  county,  Kentucky,  says 
that  he  Avas  surrendered  by  General  Jno.  INIorgan,  in  Ohio,  July 
26th,  1863,  and  imprisoned  at  Camp  Chase,  tlien  removed  to  Camp 
Douglas,  where  all  of  the  horrors  of  that  place  were  revived.  In 
this  camp  Choctaw  Indians  were  employed  as  guards.  When 
money  was  given  to  the  guards  to  buy  provisions,  they  would 
pocket  the  money.  The  Indians  shamed  the  whites  for  this  breach 
of  faith  and  petty  theft.  In  November,  1863,  seven  escaped  pris- 
oners were  returned,  and  subjected  to  the  most  cruel  torture.     They 


Treatment  of  Prisoners  During  the  War.  241 

were  taken  out  in  the  presence  of  the  garrison  and  tortured  with 
the  thumb-screw  until  they  fainted  with  pain. 

In  February,  1864,  the  cruelty  became  extreme;  they  beat  pris- 
oners with  clubs  and  a  leather  belt,  with  a  United  State  buckle  at 
the  end  of  it.  They  shot  prisoners  without  provocation.  For 
spilling  the  least  water  on  the  floor,  the  prisoner  was  elevated  on  a 
four  inch  scantling  fifteen  feet  high,  and  tortured  for  two  or  three 
hours.  For  any  similar  offence,  when  the  perpetrator  was  not 
known,  the  whole  regiment  was  marched  out  and  kept  in  the  cold 
all  day,  sometimes  freezing  their  limbs  in  the  effort.  Because  a 
sick  man  vornited  on  his  floor,  the  whole  of  the  prisoners,  in  the 
dead  hour  of  a  chilling  cold  night,  were  made  to  stand  out  in  their 
night  clothes,  until  frozen,  and  from  which  several  died,  whilst 
others  lost  their  health,  which  they  never  recovered. 

Mr.  Mason  was  driven  by  this  night's  cruelty  into  the  hospital, 
where,  among  empyrics,  he  refused  to  take  their  medicines ;  in  turn 
his  own  physician  was  not  allowed  to  see  him. 

From  twelve  to  thirty  prisoners  died  every  day,  during  the 
months  of  July,  August,  September  and  October,  from  brutal  treat- 
ment. 

When  James  Wandle,  a  Virginia  giant  near  seven  feet  high,  died 
through  neglect  in  the  hospital,  the  ward-master  could  not  lay  him 
in  the  small  coffin  which  was  furnished,  but  his  body  in  a  most 
brutal  manner. was  stamped  down  into  its  narrow  limits  to  prepare 
it  for  the  grave. 

Such  were  the  every  day  affairs  of  this  loathsome  place. 

Again,  in  the  coldest  winter  night,  the  prisoners  were  aroused 
and  driven  out  in  the  storm  barefooted,  in  their  night  clothes,  and 
made  to  sit  down  until  the  snow  melted  under  them. 

Late  in  December,  several  hundred  prisoners  came  from  Hood's 
army,  near  Nashville,  almost  destitute  of  clothing ;  coming  from  a 
warm  climate,  they  were  kept  out  all  night  in  the  cold,  shivering 
and  freezing.  Upon  the  next  morning,  nearly  one  hundred  were 
sent  to  the  hospital.  As  a  consequence,  many  of  their  limbs  were 
frozen  and  required  amputation,  and  death  kindly  came  to  the 
relief  of  all. 

J.  Risque  Hutter,  late  Lieutenant-Colonel  Eleventh  Regiment 
Virginia  Infantry,  writes  that  he  was  captured  at  Gettysburg,  and 
was  eighteen  months  in  prison  on  Johnson's  Island. 

During  the  tyranny  of  a  fellow  of  the  name  of  Hill,  rations  were 
reduced  and  stinted ;  that  prisoners  were  neglected  in  sickness ; 
straw  and  other  necessaries  were  declared  contraband. 

That  suffering  from  thirst  was  common,  right  on  "the  shores  of 
the  lake-bound  prison." 

That  the  rations  were  indifferent  in  quality  and  insufficient  in 
quantity  to  satisfy  hunger.  Rats  were  eaten  by  hundreds  of  pris- 
oners, who  regarded  themselves  fortunate  to  get  them,  such  was  the 
reduced  condition  of  the  prisoners. 

That  Colonel  Hutter's  brother,  an  officer  in  the  Confederate 
2 


242  Southern  Historical  Society  Papers. 


n 


army,  on  duty  in  Danville,  Virginia,  went  to  Lieutenant  Bingham 
and  agreed  to  furnish  him  with  all  of  the  comforts  of  life,  if  he 
would  have  the  necessaries  furnished  Colonel  Hutter  through  his 
friends  at  home.  Colonel  Hutter  had  Lieutenant  Bingham  furnished 
with  everything  he  desired,  and  when  arrangements  were  made  to 
furnish  similar  articles  to  Colonel  Hutter,  on  Johnson's  Island,  Hill 
would  not  permit  it.  When  the  matter  was  referred  to  Washing- 
ton, the  refusal  was  sustained. 

The  above  abbreviated  statement  has  been  made  from  ably 
written  details  of  individual  wrongs— ^each  gentleman  giving  name, 
date,  place  and  specific  charges.  The  latter  would  make  a  large 
bound  volume  of  itself,  which  want  of  space  only  apologizes  for 
the  abridgment. 

John  M.  Weiner,  formerly  Mayor  of  the  city  of  Saint  Louis, 
was  arrested  in  that  city  and  kept  in  prison  without  any  charges 
against  him  whatever.  After  the  cruel  treatment  common  to  Saint 
Louis  prisons,  he  was  transferred  to  Alton  penitentiary,  and  from 
there  made  his  escape,  and  was  killed  near  Springfield,  Missouri. 

Mrs.  Weiner  sent  for  her  husband's  body  for  burial  in  Bellafon- 
taine  Cemetery.  Whilst  his  wife  and  friends  were  preparing  his  body 
for  burial,  Samuel  R.  Curtis  sent  a  squad  of  soldiers,  who  stole  the 
corpse  from  his  wife,  and  buried  it  in  a  secret  place. 

Mrs.  Beatty  was  arrested  for  begging  the  release  of  Mayor  Wolf, 
who  was  sentenced  to  be  shot  in  retaliation.  Wolf  was  respited 
and  then  exchanged;  but  Mrs.  Beatty  was  put  in  prison,  mana- 
cled, shackled,  and  chained  with  a  heavy  ball  until  the  iron  cut 
through  her  tender  limbs,  and  the  flesh  rotted  beneath-  the  irons, 
until  she  was  attacked  with  chills  ;  and  in  a  lone  cell,  not  permitted 
to  see  a  human  being,  when  her  mind  gave  way  under  the  terrible 
treatment.  The  surgeon  protested  against  this  vicious  cruelty  ; 
still  it  was  continued,  until  the  very  sight  of  the  poor  creature  was 
frightful.  So  she  continued  until  Rosecrans  was  removed.  Alter 
Rosecrans  was  broken  down  in  the  army,  like  Burnside,  he  tried  to 
retrieve  his  lost  fortunes  by  crueltj'',  but  failed.  Neither  the  release 
of  Strachan  from  the  penalties  of  the  court-martial  for  his  partici- 
pation in  the  McNeil  murders,  and  robber)^  and  rape  of  Mrs.  Mary 
Humphreys,  nor  his  barbarity  could  save  him  from  the  contempt 
of  the  Radicals;  After  his  brutalities  in  these  cases,  the  Democrats 
loathed  him,  and  he  now  lies  hidden  among  the  rubbish  of  the 
war,  'mid  the  remnants  of  abandoned  barracks,  rusty  guns  and 
broken  wagons,  to  be  heard  of  no  more  forever.  Mrs.  Beatty  was 
tried  by  court-martial  and  acquitted,  but  will  wear  the  marks  of 
cruelty  to  the  grave. 

One  of  the  most  horrible  murders  of  the  State  of  Missouri,  was 
that  committed  by  an  old  counterfeiter  named  Babcock,  who  shot 
Judge  Wright  and  his  three  sons,  after  decoying  them  from  their 
own  door.     The  details  are  too  horrible  for  human  pen. 

This  wretched  criminal,  Babcock,  was  elected  to  the  legislature 
by  disfranchising  the  people  of  his  county  by  military  force. 


Treatment  of  Prisoners  During  the  War.  243 

This  murderer  is  a  minister  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
and  dispenses  the  gospel  to  the  people. 

Through  disgust,  horror  and  shame,  I  cast  my  pen  aside,  and  sit 
in  amazement,  that  for  crimes  like  these  an  angry  God  has  not,  by 
His  breath,  cursed  the  earth,  and  sent  it  as  a  floating  pandemonium 
throughout  the  immensity  of  space,  as  a  warning  to  other  worlds, 
if  other  worlds  there  be  so  depraved,  corrupted  and  lost  to  the 
charities  of  life  and  the  mercies  of  God. 

Dr.  Gideon  S.  Bailey,  in  wealth  and  character,  is  one  of  the  finest 
citizens  of  the  State  of  Iowa.  He  had  attended  Abraham  Lincoln's 
reputed  father  in  his  last  illness  for  many  months,  and  had  received 
not  one  cent  in  compensation.  Yet  Dr.  Bailey  was  arrested,  placed 
in  the  very  same  filthy  place  in  which  the  author  was  imprisoned, 
and  kept  there  for  a  number  of  days. 

The  weather  was  exceeding  sultry ;  Dr.  Bailey  was  in  very  feeble 
health  when  he  was  carried  down  to  Saint  Louis  on  the  hurricane 
deck  of  a  steamer."  When  in  Saint  Louis,  he  was  placed  in  Gratiot 
street  prison,  where,  he  was  subjected  to  every  manner  of  filth, 
torture  and  suffering. 

The  debt  due  him  for  the  attendance  upon  Mr.  Lincoln  remains 
unpaid,  though  the  doctor  will  bear  the  effects  of  his  incarceration 
to  the  grave. 

We  will  next  give  Rev.  George  "W.  Nelson's  narrative  of  his 
prison  life.  Mr.  Nelson  is  now  rector  of  the  Ejjiscopal  church  in 
Lexington,  Virginia.  As  an  alumnus  of  the  University  of  Virginia, 
a  gallant  Confederate  soldier,  and  since  the  war  a  devoted,  useful 
minister  of  the  gospel,  Mr.  Nelson  is  widely  known  and  needs  no 
endorsiition  from  us.  The  narrative  was  written  not  long  after  the 
close  of  the  war,  when  the  facts  were  fresh  in  his  memory,  and 
could  be  substantiated  by  memoranda  in  his  possession.  In  a 
private  letter  to  the  editor,  dated  March  14,  1876,  Mr.  Nelson  .says 
of  his  narrative :  "  It  is  all  literal  fact,  understated  rather  than  over- 
stated. I  read  it  a  few  days  since  to  Mr.  Gillock  of  this  place, 
(Lexington),  who  was  my  bunk-mate  from  Point  Lookout  until  we 
were  released,  and  he  says  that  all  of  the  facts  correspond  with  his 
memory  of  them."  Without  further  introduction,  we  submit  the 
paper  in  full : 

REV.    GEORGE   W.    NELSON 's   NARRATIVE. 

I  was  captured  on  the  26th  of  October,  1863,  under  the  following 
circumstances :  I  had  just  returned  from  within  the  enemy's  lines 
to  the  home  of  my  companion  on  the  border.  We  were  eating 
dinner,  and  thought  ourselves  perfectly  secure.  The  sight  of  a 
blue  coat  at  the  window  was  the  first  intimation  of  the  presence  of 
the  Yankees.     We  immediately  jumped  up  and  ran  into  another 


244  Southern  Historical  Society  Papers. 

room,  expecting  to  escape  through  a  back  window,  but  to  our  dis- 
may found  that  outlet  also  guarded.  We  next  made  tremendous 
exertions  to  get  up  into  the  garret  of  the  house,  but  the  trap-door 
was  so  weighted  down  as  to  resist  our  utmost  strength.  The  effort 
to  double  up  our  long  legs  and  big  bodies  in  a  wardrobe  was 
equally  unsuccessful.  At  last  we  threw  ourselves  under  a  bed  and 
awaited  our  fate.  A  few  minutes,  and  in  they  came — swords 
clattering,  pistols  cocked  and  leveled.  They  soon  spied  our  legs 
under  the  bed.  "  Come  out  of  that,"  was  yelled  out,  then  pistols 
were  put  in  our  faces,  and  I  heard  several  voices  call  out  "  sur- 
render," which  we  did  with  as  good  a  grace  as  we  could.  The 
ladies  of  the  family  were  much  distressed  and  alarmed,  particularly 
when  the  Yankees  came  up  to  us  with  their  pistols  leveled.  They 
implored :  "  Don't  shoot  them — don't  shoot  them."  The  Yankees 
answered  :  "  0,  we  aint  going  to  hurt  them."  A  few  moments  were 
given  us  to  say  good-bye,  and  then  we  were  put  upon  our  horses, 
(which  they  had  found),  placed  in  the  column,  with  a  trooper  on 
each  side  and  one  in  front  leading  our  horses,  thus  precluding  all 
chance  of  escape.  We  had  gone  about  a  mile,  when  an  Orderly 
came  up  to  us  with  an  order  from  the  Colonel  to  bring  the  ranking 
prisoner  to  the  head  of  the  column.  Accordingly  I  was  led  forward. 
The  Colonel  saluted  me,  introduced  a  Captain  Bailey  who  was  riding 
with  him,  and  said  we  should  be  treated  with  all  possible  courtesy 
while  under  his  charge,  and  I  must  do  him  the  justice  to  say  he 
kept  his  word.  He  then  proceeded  to  question  me  about  our  army. 
There  were  very  few  questions  of  this  kind  that  I  would  have 
answered,  but  it  happened  that  the  Colonel  and  myself  were  both 
quite  deaf,  which  gave  rise  to  a  ludicrous  mistake,  and  resulted  in 
putting  a  stop  to  the  catechism.  Overture :  "  Does  JefiF.  Davis  visit 
the  army  often?"  Answer:  "0,  yes,  while  we  were  camped  about 
Orange  Courthouse  in  the  summer,  the  array  of  beauty  was  great, 
and  the  smiles  of  the  fair  ones  fully  compensated  for  the  hardships 
of  the  Pennsylvania  campaign."  I  thought  he  asked  me  whether 
the  ladies  visited  the  army.  He  asked  me  what  I  said.  I  re- 
peated. I  then  noticed  he  had  a  puzzled  look,  and  that  Captain 
Bailey  could  hardly  restrain  his  laughter.  So  I  told  him  I  was 
deaf,  and  had  probably  misunderstood  his  question.  He  answered 
that  he  was  deaf,  too.  I  came  to  the  conclusion  he  thought  I  was 
quizzing,  as  he  did'nt  ask  any  more  questions.  It  is  my  intention 
to  give  full  credit  for  every  kindness  I  received,  for  stretched  to  the 
utmost,  they  make  but  two  or  three  briglit  spots  in  a  dark  record 
of-  suffering  and  oppression.  One  of  these  occurred  the  evening  of 
our  capture.  I  had  no  gloves,  and  the  night  was  very  cold.  Captain 
Bailey  seeing  this,  gave  me  one  of  his,  and  the  next  day  brought  me 
a  pair  he  had  got  for  me.  We  halted  the  first  night  at  a  place  called 
Ninevah.  We  were  put  for  safe  keeping  in  a  small  out-house, 
where  we  made  our  bed  upon  "  squashes  "  and  broken  pieces  of 
an  old  stove.  This  did  not  trouble  us,  however,  as  we  intended  to 
be  awake  all  night  in  the  hope  of  a  chance  for  escape.     But  a 


Treatment  of  Prisoners  During  the  War.  245 

numerous  and  vigilant  guard  disappointed  us.  We  reached  Stras- 
burg  the  next  evening,  where  our  captors  gave  us  a  dinner.  We 
then  went  on  to  Winchester,  where  we  spent  the  night.  The 
Yankee  officers  gave  us  a  first-rate  supper.  We  reached  Charles- 
town  next  day,  where  dinner  was  again  given  us — a  very  good  one, 
too.  The  Yankee  officers  took  us  to  their  "  mess,"  and  treated  us 
very  courteously.  That  evening  the  Colonel  commanding  took  us 
to  Harper's  Ferry.  As  we  were  starting,  Captain  Bailey  very  kindly 
gave  us  some  tobacco,  remarking,  "  You  will  find  some  difficulty 
in  getting  such  things  on  the  way."  The  Colonel  left  us  at  the 
Ferry,  and  we  found  ourselves  in  the  hands  of  a  different  set  of 
men.  We  were  put  in  the  "  John  Brown  Engine  House,"  where 
were  already  some  twenty-five  or  thirty  prisoners.  There  were  no 
beds,  no  seats,  and  the  floor  and  walls  were  alive  with  lice.  Before 
being  sent  to  this  hole,  we  were  stripped  and  searched.  We  stayed 
here  about  thirty-six  hours,  were  then  sent  on  to  Wheeling,  where 
we  were  put  in  a  place  neither  so  small  nor  so  lousy  as  the  one  we 
had  left,  but  the  company  was  even  less  to  our  taste  than  lice,  viz : 
Yankee  convicts.  We  remained  here  two  or  three  days,  and  then 
were  taken  to  Camp  Chase.  We  reached  there  in  the  night — were 
cold  and  wet.  After  undergoing  a  considerable  amount  of  cursing 
and  abuse,  we  were  turned  into  prison  No.  1,  to  shift  for  ourselves 
as  best  we  could.  At  Camp  Chase  I  made  my  first  attempt  at 
washing  my  clothes — having  no  change,  I  had  to  be  minus  shirt, 
drawers  and  socks  during  the  operation.  I  worked  so  hard  as  to 
rub  all  the  skin  off  my  knuckles,  and  yet  not  enough  to  get  the 
dirt  out  of  my  garments.  We  stayed  at  this  place  about  twenty 
days.  We  were  then  started  off  to  Johnson's  Island.  My  friend 
had  ten  dollars  good  money  when  we  reached  Camp  Chase,  which 
was  taken  from  him  and  sutlers'  checks  given  instead.  When  about 
to  leave  for  Johnson's  Island,  where,  of  course.  Camp  Chase  checks 
would  be  useless,  the  sutler  made  it  convenient  not  to  be  on 
hand  to  redeem  his  paper,  so  my  friend  lost  all  the  little  money  he 
had.  We  marched  from  Camp  Chase  to  Columbus,  where  we  took 
the  cars.  This  march  was  brutally  conducted.  Several  of  our 
number  were  sick,  and  yet  the  whole  party  was  made  to  double 
quick  nearly  the  whole  distance — five  miles.  The  excuse  was,  that 
otherwise  "  we  would  be  too  late  for  the  train."  But  why  not  have 
made  an  earlier  start?  or  why  not  have  waited  for  the  next  train? 
We  traveled  all  day,  reached  Johnson's  Island  in  the  night,  worn 
out  and  hungry.  I  stayed  at  Johnson's  Island  from  about  November 
20th  to  April  26th.  During  this  time,  in  common  Avith  many 
others,  I  suffered  a  good  deal.  Prisoners  who  were  supplied  by 
friends  in  the  North  got  along  very  well,  but  those  altogether  de- 
pendent upon  the  tender  mercies  of  the  Government  were  poorly 
off  indeed.  I  was  among  the  latter  for  sometime — not  having  been 
able  to  communicate  with  my  friends  until  the  middle  of  Decem- 
ber. But  the  New  Year  brought  me  supplies  and  letters  more 
precious  than  bank  notes,  even  to  a  half  starved,  shivering  prisoner. 


246  Southern  Historical  Society  Papers. 

The  building  in  which  I  stayed  was  a  simple  weather-boarded 
house,  through  which  the  wind  blew  and  the  snow  beat  at  will.  It 
is  true  many  of  the  buildings  were  quite  comfortable,  but  I  speak 
of  my  own  experience.  The  first  of  January,  1864,  was  said  by  all 
to  be  the  coldest  weather  ever  known  at  that  point.  It  was  so 
cold  that  the  sentinels  Avere  taken  off  for  fear  of  their  freezing. 
Wherever  the  air  struck  the  face  the  sensation  was  that  of  ice 
pressed  hard  against  it.  Yet  cold  as  it  was,  we  were  without  fire 
in  my  room  from  3  o'clock  in  the  evening  to  9  o'clock  next  morn- 
ing. I  went  to  my  bed,  which  consisted  of  two  blankets,  one  to 
lie  upon  and  one  to  cover  with,  but  sleep  was  out  of  the  question 
under  such  circumstances.  So  I  got  up,  got  together  several  icllow- 
prisoners,  and  kept  up  the  circulation  of  blood  and  spirits  until 
day  light  by  dancing.  My  chum,  unfortunately,  stayed  in  our 
bunk — the  consequence  was,  he  was  unable  to  get  his  boots  on,  so 
badly  were  his  feet  frost-bitten.  During  my  stay  in  this  prison, 
there  was  at  times  a  scarcity  of  water,  sufficient  not  only  to  incon- 
venience us,  but  to  cause  actual  suffering.  The  wells  from  Avhich 
we  got  our  supply  were  shallow,  and  were  generally  exhausted 
early  in  the  afternoon.  We  were  surrounded  by  a  lake  of  water, 
whence  Ave  might  have  been  allowed  a  plentiful  supply,  but  the 
fear  of  our  escaping  was  so  great  that  we  were  never  allowed  to  go 
to  the  lake  except  through  a  long  line  of  guards.  This  opportunity 
was  given  once  a  day,  except  when  the  wells  were  frozen  so  that  no 
water  could  be  got  from  them  at  all,  then  we  had  access  to  the  lake 
twice  a  day.  In  this  prison,  as  in  all  others  in  which  it  was  my 
misfortune  to  be  confined,  we  were  liable  to  be  shot  at  at  any  time, 
and  for  nothing.  I  remember  three  different  times  that  the  room 
I  stayed  in  was  fired  into  at  night  because  the  sentinel  said  we  had 
lights  burning,  when  to  my  certain  knowledge  there  was  no  light 
in  the  room.  The  authorities  had  rules  stuck  up,  the  observance 
of  which,  they  said,  would  insure  safety.  It  is  true,  the  non- 
observance  of  them  would  almost  certainly  entail  death  or  a  wound, 
but  the  converse  was  by  no  means  true.  Sentinels  interpreted  rules 
as  they  pleased,  and  fired  upon  us  at  the  dictation  of  their  cowardly 
hearts.  In  no  instance  have  I  seen  or  heard  of  their  being  pun- 
ished for  it,  though  it  was  clearly  proven  that  the  sufferer  violated 
no  rule.  This  prison  afforded  opportunity  for  the  exhibition  of  a 
spirit  characteristic  of  our  people,  and  Avliich,  now  they  are  over- 
powered and  under  the  heel  of  oppression,  is  still  manifested.  It 
is  that  spirit  of  self-reliance  and  submission  to  the  will  of  Provi- 
dence, which,  added  to  a  conscious  rectitude  of  purpose,  bids  men 
make  the  best  of  their  circumstances.  This  spirit  sliowed  itself  at 
Johnson's  Ishmd  in  the  efforts  made  to  pass  the  time  pleasantly 
and  profitably.  Schools,  debating  clubs,  and  games  of  all  kinds 
were  in  vogue.  There  were  all  kinds  of  shops.  Shoemaker,  black- 
smith, tailor,  jeweler,  storekeeper,  were  all  found  carrying  on  their 
respective  business.  The  impression  is  upon  my  mind  of  manj 
disagreeable,  unkind,  and  oppressive  measures  taken  by  the  author- 


Treatment  of  Prisoners  During  the  War.  247 

ities,  but  the  very  severe  treatment  to  which  I  was  afterwards  sub- 
jected so  far  threw  them  into  the  shade  that  they  have  escaped 
my  memory.  I  must  not  omit  a  statement  about  food.  At  Camp 
Chase  my  rations  were  of  a  good  quality  and  sufficient.  At  John- 
son's Island  they  were  not  so  good  nor  near  so  plentiful,  though 
sufficient  to  keep  a  man  in  good  health.  While  at  Johnson's 
Island,  I  made  two  attempts  to  escape.  My  first  attempt  was  in 
December.  Six  of  us  started  a  tunnel  from  under  one  of  the 
buildings,  with  the  intention  of  coming  to  the  surface  outside  of 
the  pen  surrounding  the  prison.  Our  intention  then  Avas  to  s^im 
to  the  nearest  point  of  mainland,  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  distant-, 
and  then  make  across  the  country  for  the  South.  We  had  Avith 
infinite  labor,  during  three  or  four  nights,  made  a  considerable 
hole,  and  were  in  high  spirits  at  the  prospect,  when  one  night  there 
came  a  tremendous  rain,  which  caved  in  our  tunnel  and  blasted 
our  hopes  for  that  time.  My  next  attempt  was  on  the  2d  of 
January,  1864,  during  the  intensely  cold  weather.  I  succeeded  in 
getting  to  the  fence  where  the  sentinel  was  posted,  but  the  guard 
was  so  vigilant  it  was  impossible  to  get  over.  I  lay  by  the  fence 
until  nearly  frozen.  The  moon  shone  out  brightly,  and  I  had  to 
run  for  my  life.  In  the  beginning  of  spring  an  exchange  of  sick 
and  disabled  prisoners  was  agreed  upon  between  the  two  Govern- 
ments. I  had  been  very  unwell  for  some  three  months.  Accord- 
ingly I  went  before  the  board  of  physicians,  which  decided  I  was 
a  fit  subject  for  exchange.  On  the  2Gth  of  April,  in  company  with 
one  hundred  and  forty  sick,  I  left  Johnson's  Island,  fully  believing 
that  in  a  few  da3^s  I  would  be  once  more  in  dear  old  Dixie.  We 
traveled  by  rail  to  Baltimore,  thence  we  went  by  steamer  to  Point 
Lookout.  Here  I  drank  to  the  dregs  the  cup  of  "Hope  deferred 
that  maketh  the  heart  sick."  Every  few  daj'-s  we  were  told  we 
would  certainly  leave  for  the  South  by  the  next  boat^once  all  of 
us  were  actual!}'  called  up  to  sign  the  parole  not  to  take  up  arms, 
etc.,  until  regularly  exchanged — but  the  order  was  countermanded 
before  one-third  of  us  had  signed  the  roll.  I  never  before  nor  since 
felt  so  sick  at  heart  as  then.  My  disappointments  of  the  same 
character  have  been  many,  but  that  overstepped  them  all.  All 
faith  in  the  truth  of  any  Government  official  was  then  shattered 
forever.  The  greater  part  of  my  time  at  Point  Lookout  was  passed 
in  the  hospital,  where  I  was  very  well  treated.  The  sick  were  not 
closely  guarded,  and  had  the  privilege  of  the  whole  Point.  It  was 
no  small  consolation  to  sit  for  hours  on  tlie  beach,  the  fresh  breeze 
blowing  in  your  face,  the  free  waters  rolling  endless  before  you 
(moodful  as  nature's  own  child,  sparkling  with  infinite  lustre  in 
the  sunshine  of  a  calm  day,  kissing  with  a  soft  murmur  of  Avelcome 
the  gentle  breeze  or  struggling  with  an  angry  roar  in  the  embrace 
of  the  tempest),  and  miles  distant  was  the  Virginia  shore,  and  I 
have  often  thought  I  might  claim  a  kindred  feeling  with  the 
prophet  viewing  from  Pisgah  the  land  he  might  not  reach.  About 
the   middle   of    May   the  hospital   was   crowded    with   wounded 


248  Southern  Historical  Society  Papers. 

Yankees  sent  from  Butler's  line.  This  necessitated  our  removal. 
Accordingly  we  were  sent  out  to  the  regular  prison.  There  we 
lived  in  tents.  We  still  had  one  luxury — sea  bathing.  The  drink- 
ing water  here  was  very  injurious — caused  diarrhoea.  About  this 
time  rations  were  reduced.  We  were  cut  down  to  two  meals  a  day. 
Coffee  and  sugar  were  stopped.  The  ration  was  a  small  loaf  of 
bread  per  day,  a  small  piece  of  meat  for  breakfast,  and  a  piece  of 
meat,  and  what  was  called  soup,  for  dinner.  About  the  20th  of 
June  I  was  removed  to  Fort  Delaware.  We  were  crowded  in  the 
hold  and  between  decks  of  a  steamer  for  three  days,  the  time 
occupied  in  the  trip.  I  thought  at  the  time  this  was  terrible,  but 
subsequent  experience  taught  me  it  was  only  a  small  matter.  On 
reaching  Fort  Delaware  we  underwent  the  "search"  usual  at  most 
of  the  prisons.  What  money  I  had  I  put  in  brown  paper,  which 
I  placed  in  my  mouth  in  a  chew  of  tobacco.  I  thus  managed  to 
secure  it.  An  insufficiency  of  food  was  the  chief  complaint  at 
Fort  Delaware.  I  did  not  suffer.  My  friends  supplied  me  with 
money,  and  I  was  allowed  to  purchase  from  the  sutler  what  I 
needed.  While  at  Fort  Delaware,  one  of  our  number,  Colonel 
Jones,  of  Virginia,  was  murdered  by  one  of  the  guard.  Colonel 
Jones  had  been  sick  for  sometime.  One  foot  was  so  swollen  he 
could  not  bear  a  shoe  upon  it,  and  it  was  with  difficulty  he  walked 
at  all.  One  evening  he  hobbled  to  the  sinks.  As  he  was  about  to 
return  a  considerable  crowd  of  prisoners  had  collected  there.  The 
sentinel  ordered  them  to  move  off,  which  they  did.  Colonel  Jones 
could  not  move  fast.  The  sentinel  ordered  him  to  move  ftister. 
He  replied  that  he  was  doing  the  best  he  could,  he  could  not  walk 
any  faster,  whereupon  the  sentinel  shot  him,  the  ball  jiassing 
through  the  arm  and  lungs.  He  lived  about  twenty-four  hours. 
He  remarked  to  the  commandant  of  the  post:  "  Sir,  I  am  a  mur- 
dered man — murdered  for  nothing — I  was  breaking  no  rule."  The 
prisoners  at  Fort  Delaware  were  great  beer  drinkers.  The  beer 
was  made  of  molasses  and  water — was  sold  by  prisoners  to  each 
other  for  five  cents  per  glass.  Every  few  yards  there  was  a 
"  beer  stand."  Beer  was  drank  in  the  place  of  water — the  latter 
article  being  very  warm,  and  at  times  very  brackish.  While  at 
Fort  Delaware  we  were  kept  on  the  rack  by  alternate  hope  and 
disappointment.  Rumors,  that  never  came  to  anything,  of  an 
immediate  general  exchange,  were  every  day  occurrences.  On 
the  2()th  of  August,  1864,  six  hundred  of  us  were  selected  and 
sent  to  Morris'  Island,  in  Charleston  harbor,  to  be  placed  under  the 
fire  of  our  own  batteries.  We  were  in  high  spirits  at  starting,  for 
we  firmly  believed  we  were  soon  to  be  exchanged  for  a  like  number 
of  the  enemy  in  Charleston,  In  some  instances  men  gave  their 
gold  watches  to  some  of  the  "  lucky  ones,"  as  they  Avere  termed,  to 
be  allowed  to  go  in  their  places.  On  the  evening  of  the  20th  we 
were  all  (600)  stowed  away  between  decks  of  the  steamer  "  Crescent." 
Bunks  had  been  fixed  up  for  us.  They  were  arranged  in  three 
tiers  along  the  whole  length  of  the  ship,  two  rows  of  three  tiers 


Treatment  of  Prisoners  During  the  War.  24& 

each  on  each  side  of  the  vessel,  leaving  a  very  narrow  passage- 
way, so  narrow  that  two  men  could  with  difficulty  squeeze  by  each 
other.  In  the  centre  of  the  rows  the  lower  and  centre  tiers  of 
bunks  were  shrouded  in  continual  night,  the  little  light  through 
the  port  holes  being  cut  off  by  the  upper  tier  of  bunks.  My  bunk, 
which  was  about  five  feet  ten  inches  square,  and  occupied  by  four 
persons,  was  right  against  the  boiler,  occasioning  an  additional 
amount  of  heat,  which  made  the  sensation  of  suffocation  almost 
unbearable.  Here  we  lay  in  these  bunks,  packed  away  like  sardines, 
in  all  eighteen  days,  in  the  hottest  part  of  summer.  In  two  in- 
stances the  guard  placed  in  with  us  fainted.  I  heard  one  of  them 
remark :  "  A  dog  could'nt  stand  this."  Perspiration  rolled  off  us 
in  streams  all  the  time.  Clothes  and  blankets  were  saturated  with 
it,  and  it  constantly  dripped  from  the  upper  to  the  lower  bunks. 
Our  sufferings  were  aggravated  by  a  scarcity  of  water.  The  water 
furnished  us  was  condensed,  and  so  intense  was  the  thirst  for  it, 
that  it  was  taken  from  the  condenser  almost  boiling  hot  and  drunk 
in  that  state.  One  evening,  during  a  rain,  we  were  allowed  on 
deck.  Several  of  us  carried  up  an  old,  dirty  oil-cloth,  which  we 
held  by  the  four  corners  until  nearly  full  of  rain  water.  We  then 
plunged  our  heads  in  and  drank  to  our  fill.  I  remember  well  the 
sensation  of  delight,  the  wild  joy  with  which  I  felt  the  cool  water 
about  my  face  and  going  down  my  throat.  On  one  occasion,  hearing 
that  the  surgeon  gave  his  medicines,  in  ice  water,  I  went  to  him 
and  asked  for  a  dose  of  salts,  which  he  gave  me,  and  after  it  a  glass 
of  ice  water.  He  remarked  upon  the  indifference  with  which  I 
swallowed  the  physic.  I  told  him  I  would  take  another  dose  for 
another  glass  of  water,  which  he  was  kind  enough  to  give  me 
minus  the  salts.  It  was  strange  that  none  of  us  died  during  this 
trip.  I  can  account  for  it  only  by  the  fact  that  we  were  sustained 
by  the  hope  every  one  had  of  being  soon  exchanged  and  returning 
home.  Our  skins,  which  were  much  tanned  when  we  started,  were 
bleached  as  white  as  possible  during  this  trip.  We  lay  for  some 
days  off  Port  Royal,  while  a  pen  was  being  made  on  Morris'  Island 
in  which  to  confine  us.  While  at  anchor,  three  of  our  number 
attempted  their  escape.  They  found  some  "  life  preservers  "  some- 
where in  the  ship.  With  these  they  got  overboard  in  the  night, 
swam  some  eight  or  ten  miles,  when  two  of  them  landed ;  the 
third  kept  on  swimming,  and  I  have  never  heard  of  him  since. 
The  other  two  got  lost  among  the  islands  and  arms  of  the  sea,  and 
after  scuffling  and  suffering  for  three  days  were  re-captured  and 
brought  back  to  their  old  quarters.  On  the  7th  of  September, 
1864,  we  landed  on  Morris'  Island.  We  disembarked  during  the 
middle  of  the  day,  under  a  scorching  sun,  but  yet  the  change  from 
the  close,  and  by  that  time,  filthy  hold  of  the  ship,  was  delightful. 
During  the  voyage  we  were  guarded  by  white  soldiers.  They  were 
now  relieved  by  blacks,  and  they  were  certainly  the  blackest  I 
ever  saw.  But  black,  uncouth  and  barbarous  as  they  were,  we  soon 
found  that  they  were  far  preferable  to  the  white  officers  who  com- 


250  Southern  Historical  Society  Papers. 

man  (led  them.  If  physiognomy  is  any  index  of  character,  then 
surely  these  officers  were  villainous.  But  not  one  of  them,  in  looks 
or  deeds,  could  compare  with  their  Colonel.  I  always  felt  in  his 
presence  as  if  I  had  suddenly  come  upon  a  snake.  He  used 
frequently  to  come  into  the  pen  and  talk  with  some  of  the  prisoners. 
He  seemed  to  take  a  fiendish  pleasure  in  our  suff"erings.  A  prisoner 
said  to  him,  on  one  occasion  :  "  Colonel,  unless  you  give  us  more 
to  eat,  we  will  starve."  His  reply  was :  "  If  I  had  my  way  I  would 
feed  you  on  an  oiled  rag./'  Once  he  told  us  we  must  hury  the 
refuse  bones  in  the  sand  to  prevent  any  bad  smell  from  tliem. 
One  of  our  number  answered  :  "  If  you  don't  give  us  something 
more  to  eat,  there  will  not  only  be  nothing  to  bury,  but  there  won't 
be  any  of  us  left  to  bury  it."  "  Ah,  well,"  he  replied,  "  when  you 
commence  to  stink,  I'll  put  you  in  the  ground  too."  The  bread 
issued  us  was  spoiled  and  filled  with  worms.  Some  one  remon- 
strated with  him  about  giving  men  such  stufi*  to  eat.  His  answer 
was :  "  You  were  complaining  about  not  having  any  fresh  meat,  so 
I  thought  I  would  supply  you."  The  pen  in  which  we  were  con- 
fined had  an  area  of  one  square  acre.  It  was  nearly  midway 
between  batteries  Gregg  and  Wagner,  perfectly  exposed  to  the  shot 
and  shell  fired  at  the  two  batteries.  The  principal  firing  was  from 
mortars,  and  was  done  mostly  at  night.  We  lived  in  tents,  and 
had  not  the  least  protection  from  the  fire.  This,  however,  troubled 
us  but  little.  Our  great  concern  was  at  the  small  amount  and 
desperate  quality  of  the  food  issued.  One  of  our  greatest  pleasures 
was  in  watching  the  shells  at  night  darting  through  the  air  like 
shooting  stars,  and  in  predicting  how  near  to  us  they  would  ex- 
plode. Sometimes  they  exploded  just  overhead,  and  the  fragments 
went  whizzing  about  us.  But,  strange  to  sa}^,  during  our  stay  there, 
from  September  7th  to  October  19th,  not  one  of  our  number  was 
struck,  though  there  was  firing  every  day  and  night,  and  sometimes 
it  was  very  brisk.  The  negro  guard  was  as  much  exposed  as  our- 
selves. One  of  them  had  his  leg  knocked  off  by  a  shell — the  only 
person  struck  that  I  heard  of.  In  this  place  we  lived  in  small  A 
tents — four  men  to  a  tent.  The  heat  was  intense  during  tlie  day, 
but  the  nights  were  cool  and  pleasant — the  only  drawback  to 
sleep  being  the  constant  noise  from  exploding  shell  and  from  the 
firing  of  the  forts  by  us.  Our  camp  was  laid  ofi'  in  streets,  two 
rows  of  tents  facing  each  other,  making  a  street.  These  rows  were 
called  A,  B,  0,  D,  E,  F,  G,  H.  A  negro  sergeant  had  charge  of 
each  row,  calling  it  "his  company."  His  duties  were  to  call  the 
roll  three  times  per  diem,  issue  rations,  and  exercise  a  general 
superintendence.  These  sergeants  Avere  generally  kind  to  us,  ex- 
pressed their  sorrow  that  we  had  so  little  to  eat.  We  had  a  point  - 
in  common  with  them,  viz  :  intense  hatred  of  their  Colonel.  Their 
hatred  of  him  was  equalled  only  by  their  fear  of  him.  His  treat- 
ment of  them,  for  the  least  violation  of  orders,  or  infraction  of 
discii^line,  was  barbarous.  He  would  ride  at  them,  knock  and 
beat  them  over  the  head  with  his  sabre,  or  draw  liis  pistol  and 


Treatment  of  Prisoners  During  the  War.  251 

shoot  at  them.  Our  rations  were  issued  in  manner  and  quantity 
jas  follows :  The  sergeant  came  around  to  each  tent  with  a  box  of 
;ihard  biscuit,  issued  to  each  prisoner  three,  generally,  sometimes 
lltwo,  sometimes  one  and  a  half.  Towards  the  last  of  our  stay  five 
]|were  issued,  which  last  was  the  number  allowed  by  the  authorities. 
•!The  sergeant  next  came  around  with  a  box  of  small  pieces  of 
jjmeat,  about  the  width  and  length  of  two  fingers.  One  of  them 
(was  given  to  each  man.  This  was  breakfast.  At  dinner  time  the 
sisergeant  went  around  with  a  barrel  of  pea  soup — gave  each  man 
.'Ifrom  one-third  to  half  a  pint.  Supper  wi;is  marked  by  the  issue  of 
jia  little  mush  or  rice.  This,  too,  was  brought  around  in  a  barrel. 
ill  have  before  spoken  of  the  lively  nature  of  the  bread.  Any  one 
jiwho  had  not  seen  it  would  hardly  credit  the  amount  of  dead 
jianimal  matter  in  the  shape  of  white  worms,  which  was  in  the 
ijmush  given  us.  For  my  own  part,  I  was  always  too  hungry  to  be 
■jidainty — worms,  mush  and  all  went  to  satisfy  the  cravings  of  nature. 
(iBut  I  knew  of  several  persons,  who,  attempting  to  pick  them  out, 
•'having  thrown  out  from  fifty  to  eighty,  stopped  picking  them  out, 
ijuot  because  the  worms  were  all  gone,  but  because  the  little  bit  of 
|mush  was  going  with  them. 

j  While  at  Morris'  Island  we  considered  ourselves  in  much  more 
[danger  from  the  guns  of  the  guard  than  from  ojar  batteries.  The 
j'negroes  were  thick-headed,  and  apt  to  go  beyond  their  orders, 
lor  misunderstand.  They  were,  therefore,  very  dangerous.  For- 
jftunately  they  were  miserable  shots,  else  several  men  would  have 
^been  killed  who  really  were  not  touched.  A  sutler  was  permitted 
4o  come  in  once  a  week  to  sell  tobacco,  stationery,  molasses,  cakes, 
jietc,  to  those  who  had  money.  Inside  the  enclosure  and  all  around 
.the  tents  was  a  rope:  this  was  the  "Dead  Line."  To  go  beyond, 
jor  even  to  touch  this  rope,  was  death — that  is,  if  the  sentinel  could 
hit  you.  When  the  sutler  came  in  we  were  ordered  to  form  in  two 
ranks,  faced  by  the  flank  towards  the  "Dead  Line."  Every  new 
(comer  had  to  fall  in  behind,  and  await  his  turn.  On  one  occasion, 
one  of  our  number,  either  not  knowing  or  having  forgotten  the 
order,  walked  up  to  the  "Dead  Line"  on  the  flank  of  the  line  of 
men.  Lie  was  not  more  than  five  yards  from  a  sentinel.  An 
officer  was  standing  by  the  sentinel,  and  ordered  him  to  fire,  which 
he  did,  and  wonderful  to  say,  missed  not  only  the  man  at  whom 
•he  shot,  but  the  entire  line.  The  officer  then  pulled  his  pistol, 
and  fired  it  at  the  prisoner.  He  also  missed.  The  prisoner,  not 
liking  a  position  where  all  the  firing  was  on  one  side,  then  made 
good  his  retreat  to  his  tent. 

Our  authorities  in  Charleston  and  the  Yankee  authorities  on  the 
island  exchanged  a  boat  load  of  provisions,  tobacco,  etc.,  for  their 
respective  prisoners.  Bread,  potatoes,  meat,  and  both  smoking  and 
chewing  tobacco,  were  sent  us  by  the  Charleston  ladies.  Never 
was  anything  more  enjoyed,  and  never,  I  reckon,  were  men  more 
thankful.  I  had  as  much  as  I  cocld  eat  for  once,  even  on  Morris' 
Island.     All  the  prisoners  seemed  io  squirt  out  tobacco  juice,  and 


252  Southern  Historical  Society  Papers. 


11 


puff  tobacco  smoke,  with  a  keener  relish  from  knowing  where  i 
came  from,  and  by  whom  it  was  sent.  There,  as  elsewhere,  wi 
were  constantly  expecting  to  be  exchanged.  No  one  counted  upoi; 
being  there  more  than  ten  days ;  and,  at  the  end  of  that  ten  days 
"why,  we  will  surely  be  in  Dixie  before  another  ten  days  passes.'ij 
One  freak  of  the  Yankees  I  have  never  been  able  to  account  for, 
They  took  us  out  of  the  pen  one  morning,  marched  us  down  to  the 
opposite  end  of  the  island,  put  us  on  board  two  old  hulks,  kept  Uf 
there  for  the  night,  then  marched  us  back  to  our  old  quarters.  Aboui\ 
the  IStli  of  October  we  were  ordered  to  be  ready  to  leave  early  tht 
next  morning.  In  compliance  with  this  order,  we  got  up  earliei 
than  usual,  in  order  to  bundle  up  our  few  possessions  and  wash' 
our  faces  before  leaving.  The  guard  took  this  occasion  to  shooi 
two  of  our  number,  one  through  the  knee,  the  other  through  the 
shoulder.  Early  on  the  morning  of  the  18th  of  October  we  were 
drawn  up  in  line,  three  days'  rations  were  issued,  viz  v  fifteen  "hard 
tack"  and  a  right  gooel-sizeel  piece  of  meat.  I  felt  myself  a  rich 
man.  I  remember  well  the  loving  looks  I  cast  upon  my  deai 
victuals,  and  the  tender  care  with  which  I  adjusted  and  carried  my 
trusty  old  haversack.  A  few  moments  more  and  we  took  up.  the 
line  of  march  for  the  lower  end  of  Morris'  Island,  with  a  heavy 
line  of  darkey  guards  on  either  side.  The  distance  was  only  three 
miles,  but  this  to  men  confined  for  over  a  year,  and  for  two  months 
previous  existing  upon  such  light  rations,  was  a  very  considerable 
matter.  Several  of  our  number  gave  out  completely,  and  had  to 
be  hauled  the  remaining  distance.  Arrived  at  the  wharf,  we  ex- 
changed our  negro  guards  for  w^hite  ones,  the  157th  New  York  Vol- 
unteers, Colonel  Brown  commanding.  This  officer  and  his  men 
though  we  afterwards  while  in  their  hands  were  subjected  to  the 
most  severe  treatment,  as  far  as  they  were  concerned  individually 
always  treated  us  with  kindness.  We  were  put  in  two  old  hulks 
fittecl  up  for  us,  and  then  were  towed  out  to  sea.  The  first  evening 
of  the  journey  I  fell  upon  my  "victuals,"  and  was  so  hungry  that 
I  ate  my  three  elays'  rations  at  once.  To  a  question  from  a  friend, 
"What  will  you  do  for  the  rest  of  the  time?"  I  replied:  "I  reckon 
the  Lord  will  provide."  But  I  made  a  mistake.  I  might  have, 
known  the  Almighty  would  lise  such  instruments  as  were  about 
us  only  as  ministers  of  wrath.  The  evening  of  the  third  day  we 
anchored  off  Fort  Pulaski.  By  this  time  I  was  nearly  famished. 
We  did  not  land  until  the  next  morning,  when  we  were  marched 
into  the  fort  and  provisions  given  us.  On  the  journey  a  party 
attempted  to  escape.  They  had  succeeded  in  cutting  a  hole  in  the 
siele  of  the  vessel,  and  were  just  letting  themselves  down  into  the 
water  when  they  were  discovereel  and  brougiit  back. 

Fort  Pulaski  is  a  brick  work,  mounts  two  tiers  of  guns,  the  lower 
tier  in  casemates.  The  walls  enclose  about  an  acre  of  ground. 
We  were  placeel  in  the  casemates,  where  bunks  in  three  tiers  were 
prepared  for  us.  The  flooring  was  mostly  brick.  This  was  very 
damp,  which,  together  with  the  colel,  damp  air,  rendered  us  very 


Treatment  of  Prisoners  During  the  War.  253 

liicomfortable.  A  heavy  guard  was  thrown  around  our  part  of 
he  fort,  and  for  additional  security  iron  grates  were  placed  in  the 
imbrasures.  Twenty  prisoners  at  a  time  were  allowed  to  walk  up 
md  down  the  parade  ground  within  the  fort  for  exercise.  Doors 
md  windows  were  generally  kept  shut,  and  our  abiding  place  was 
lark  and  gloomy  enough. 

Nothing  remarkable  happened  until  the  end  of  the  old  year.  A 
iolerable  amount  of  rations  was  issued,  and  our  life  was  pretty 
nuch  the  same  with  prison  life  elsewhere.  The  new  year  brought 
I,  terrible  change.  General  Foster  ordered  us  to  be  retaliated  upon 
or  alleged  ill  treatment  of  prisoners  at  Andersonville,  Georgia. 
)ur  rations  were  reduced  to  less  than  one  pint  of  meal  and  about 
I  half  pint  of  pickle  per  day.  No  meat  and  no  vegetables  of  any 
j;ind  were  allowed  us.  The  meal  issued  was  damaged.  It  was  in 
umps  larger  than  a  man's  head,  and  as  hard  as  clay  :  it  was  sour, 
iind  generally  filled  with  bugs  and  worms.  We  either  had  to  eat 
this  or  lie  down  and  die  at  once.  This  regimen  lasted  forty-three 
lays.  I  cannot  do  justice  to  the  misery  and  suffering  experienced 
j)y  myself  and  seen  everywhere. around  me  during  this  period.  It 
iS  only  one  year  since,  and  yet  I  can  hardly  believe  I  really  passed 
ihrough  such  scenes  as  memory  brings  before  me.  Our  diet  soon 
Induced  scurvy.  This  loathsome  disease,  in  addition  to  the  pangs 
itf  hunger,  made  life  almost  insupportable.  The  disease  first  made 
Its  appearance  in  the  mouth,  loosening-  the  teeth,  and  in  many 
lases  making  the  gums  a  mass  of  black,  putrid  flesh.  It  next 
ttacked  the  limbs,  appearing  first  in  little  spots,  like  blood  blisters. 
'One  of  them,  after  being  broken,  would  become  a  hard,  dark- 
'olored  knot.  These  spots  would  increase  until  the  whole  limb 
Vas  covered,  by  which  time  the  muscles  would  have  contracted 
nd  the  limb  be  drawn  beyond  all  power  of  straightening.  I  have 
een  cases  where  not  only  the  legs  and  arms  but  the  back  was  thus 
I  ffected.  Another  feature  of  the  disease  was  the  fainting  produced 
y  very  slight  exercise.  I  have  walked  down  the  prison,  and 
tumbled  upon  men  lying  on  the  floor  to  all  appearance  dead, 
Laving  fainted  and  fallen  while  exerting  themselves  to  get  to  the 
j  sinks." 

^  Terrible  as  was  the  above  state  of  things,  our  sufferings  were  in- 
creased by  as  heartless  and  uncalled-for  a  piece  of  cruelty  as  has 
■ver  been  recorded.     Our  poor  fellows  generally  were  supplied,  and 
lat  slimly,  with  summer  clothing,  such  as  they  brought  from  Fort 
Delaware  in  August.     United  States  blankets  (and  many  had  no 
iHher  kind)  had  been  taken  away  at  Morris'  Island.     Not  only 
'ere  blankets  and  clothing  not  issued,  but  we  ivere  not  allowed  to 
3ceive  ivhat  friends  had  sent  us.     We  had  only  so  much  fuel  as  was 
ceded  for  cooking.     Can  a  more  miserable  state  of  existence  be 
aiagined  than  this?     Starved  almost  to  the  point  of  death,  a  prey 
3  disease,  the  blood  in  the  veins  so  thin  that  the  least  cold  sent  a 
hiver  through  the  whole  frame !     No  fire,  no  blankets,  scarcely 
ny  clothing !     Add  to  this  the  knowledge  on  our  part  that  a  few 


254  Southern  Historical  Society  Papers. 

steps  off  were  those  who  lived  in  plenty  and  comfort !  Crumbs 
and  bones  were  there  daily  thrown  to  the  dogs  or  carried  to  the 
dunghill,  that  would  have  made  the  eyes  of  the  famished  men  in 
that  prison  glisten.  The  consequence  of  all  this  was  that  the  pris- 
oners died  like  sheep.  Whatever  the  immediate  cause  of  their 
death,  that  cause  was  induced  by  starvation,  and  over  the  dead 
bodies  of  nine-tenths  of  those  brave,  true  men  there  can  be  given  but 
one  true  verdict :  "  Death  by  starvation.''^  I  remember  one  instance 
that,  suffering  as  I  was  myself,  touched  me  to  the  heart.  One  poor 
fellow,  who  had  grown  so  weak  as  not  to  be  able  to  get  off  his 
bunk,  said  to  his  "chum":  "I  can't  stand  this  any  longer,  I  must 
die."  "0,  no,"  said  the  other,  "cheer  up,  man,  rations  will  be 
issued  again  in  two  days,  and  I  reckon  they  will  certainl}'-  give  us 
something  to  eat  then — ^live  until  then  anyhow."  The  poor  fellow 
continued  to  live  until  the  day  for  issuing  rations,  but  it  brought 
no  change — the  same  short  pint  of  damaged  meal  and  pickle,  and 
nothing  more.  As  soon  as  the  poor  fellow  heard  this,  he  told  his 
friend  not  to  beg  him  any  more,  for  he  could  not  live  any  longer, 
and  the  next  evening  he  died. 

Fortunately  for  some  of  us,  there  were  a  great  many  cats  about 
the  prison.  As  may  be  imagined,  we  were  glad  enough  to  eat 
them.  I  have  been  partner  in  the  killing  and  eating  of  three,  and 
besides  friends  have  frequently  given  me  a  share  of  their  cat.  We 
cooked  ours  two  ways.  One  we  fried  in  his  own  fat  for  breakfast — 
another  we  baked  with  a  stuffing  and  gravy  made  of  some  corn 
meal — the  other  we  also  fried.  The  last  was  a  kitten — was  tender 
and  nice.  A  compassionate  Yankee  soldier  gave  it  to  me.  I  was 
cooking,  at  the  stove  by  the  grating  which  separated  us  from  the 
guard.  This  soldier  hailed  me :  "  I  say,  are  you  one  of  them 
fellers  that  eat  catsf"  I  replied,  "Yes."  "  Well,  here  is  one  I'll 
shove  thro'  if  you  want  it."  "  Shove  it  thro',"  I  answered.  In  a 
very  few  minutes  the  kitten  was  in  frying  order.  Our  guards  were 
not  allowed  to  relieve  our  sufferings,  "but  they  frequently  expressed 
their  sympathy.  The  Colonel  himself  told  us  it  was  a  painful 
duty  to  inflict  such  suffering,  but  that  we  knew  he  was  a  soldier 
and  must  obey  orders. 

The  3d  of  March,  1865,  dawned  upon  us  ladened  with  rumors  of 
a  speedy  exchange.  The  wings  of  hope  had  been  so  often  clipped 
by  disappointment,  one  would  have  thought  it  impossible  for  her 
to  rise  very  high.  "  Hope  springs,"  etc.,  received  no  denial  in  our 
case.  Each  man  was  more  or  less  excited.  Strong  protestations  of 
belief  that  nothing  would  come  of  it  were  heard  on  all  sides.  But 
the  anxiety  manifested  in  turning  the  rumor  over  and  over,  the 
criticisms  upon  the  source  from  which  it  came,  and  especially  the 
tenacity  with  which  they  clung  to  it  in  spite  of  professed  disbelief, 
showed  that  in  the  hearts  of  all  the  hope  that  deliverance  was  at 
hand  had  taken  deep  root.  On  the  4th  the  order  came  to  be  ready 
to  start  in  two  hours.  Soon  after  one  of  our  ranking  officers  was 
told  by  one  of  the  officials  that  an  order  was  just  received  from 


Treatment  of  Prisoners  During  the  War.  255 

Grant  to  exchange'  us  immediately.  We  were  wild  with  hope. 
The  chilling  despair  which  had  settled  upon  us  for  months  seemed 
to  rise  at  once.  All  were  busy  packing  their  few  articles.  Cheerful 
talk  and  hearty  laughter  was  heard  all  through  the  prison.  "  Well, 
old  fellow,  off  for  Dixie  at  last,"  was  said  as  often  as  one  friend 
met  another.  The  alacrity  with  which  the  sick  and  crippled 
dragged  themselves  about  was  wonderful.  Soon  the  drum  beat, 
the  line  was  formed  and  the  roll  called.  "  Forward,  march !"  Two 
by  two  we  passed  through  the  entrance  to  the  Fort,  over  the  moat, 
and  then  Fort  Pulaski  was  left  behind  us  forever ! 

One  sorrowful  thought  accompanied  us.  Our  joy  could  not 
reach  the  poor  fellows  who  had  suffered  with  us  and  fallen  victims 
to  hunger  and  disease,  and  whose  remains  lay  uncared  for,  un- 
honored,  aye!  unmarked.  A  good  many  head-boards,  with  the 
name,  rank  and  regiment  of  the  dead  had  been  prepared  by  friends, 
but  an  opportunity  to  put  them  up  was  not  given,  although  it  had 
been  promised.  We  reached  Hilton  Head  without  anything  re- 
markable happening.  Then  we  took  on  our  party  which  had  been 
sent  there  at  the  beginning  of  the  retaliation,  or  "  Meal  and  Pickles," 
as  we  used  to  call  it.  This  party  had  undergone  the  same  treat- 
ment. The  greeting  between  friends  was :  "  How  are  you,  old 
fellow,  ain't  dead  yet?  you  are  hard  to  kill."  "  I'm  mighty  glad 
to  see  you.  Have  some  pickles — or  here  is  some  sour  meal  if  you 
prefer  it."  The  boat  in  which  we  started  was  now  so  crowded  that 
there  was  not  room  for  all  to  sit  down.  It  was  so  overloaded,  and 
rolled  so,  that  the  Captain  refused  to  put  to  sea  unless  a  larger 
ship  was  given  to  him.  Accordingly  we  were  transferred  to  the 
ship  "  Illinois."  The  sick,  about  half  our  number,  occupied  the 
lower  deck — the  rest  of  us  were  packed  away  in  the  "  hole."  But 
no  combination  of  circumstances  could  depress  us  as  long  as  we 
believed  we  were  "  bound  for  Dixie."  So  we  laughed  at  our  close 
quarters,  at  ourselves  and  each  other,  when  sea  sick.  We  were 
almost  run  away  with  by  lice,  but  we  off  shirts  and  skirmished 
with  these  varmints  with  the  "  vim "  inspired  by  "  bound  for 
Dixie." 

We  reached  Fort  Monroe  on  the  third  day.  By  this  time  the 
filth  in  the  ship  was  awful — language  can't  describe  the  condition 
of  the  deck  where  the  sick  were.  The  poor  fellows  were  unable  to 
help  themselves,  and  sea  sickness  and  diarrhoea  had  made  their 
quarters  unendurable.  The  stench  was  terrible — the  air  suffocating. 
We  expected  to  go  right  up  the  James  river  and  be  exchanged  at 
City  Point.  We  were  most  cruelly  disappointed.  Orders  were 
received  to  carry  us  to  Fort  Delaware.  When  we  learned  this  we 
were  in  despair.  The  stimulus  which  had  enabled  us  to  bear  up 
all  along  was  gone;  we  were  utterly  crushed.  The  deaths  of  three 
of  our  number  during  the  day  and  night  following  told  the  tale  of 
our  utter  wretchedness.  Their  death  excited  little  or  no  pit3^  I 
think  the  feeling  towards  them  was  rather  one  of  envy.  I  re- 
member hardly  anything  of  our  passage  from  Fort  Monroe  to 


256  Southern  Historical  Society  Papers. 

Fort  Delaware.  A  gloom  too  deep  for  even  the  ghost  of  hope  to 
enter  was  upon  my  spirits.  I  noticed  little  and  cared  less.  Upon 
reaching  Fort  Delaware  seventy-five  of  our  number  were  carried 
to  the  prison  hospital,  and  had  there  been  room  many  more  would 
have  gone.  We  were  marched  into  the  same  place  we  had  left 
more  than  six  months  before.  I  had  no  idea  what  a  miserable 
looking  set  of  men  we  were  until  contrasted  with  the  Fort  Delaware 
prisoners — our  old  companions.  I  thought  they  were  the  fattest, 
best  dressed  set  of  men  I  had  ever  seen.  That  they  looked  thus  to 
me,  will  excite  no  surprise  when  I  describe  my  own  appearance,  A 
flannel  shirt,  low  in  the  neck,  was  my  only  under-garment.  An 
old  overcoat,  once  white,  was  doing  duty  as  shirt,  coat  and  vest ; 
part  of  an  old  handkerchief  tied  around  my  head  served  as  a  hat ; 
breeches  I  had  none — an  antiquated  pair  of  red  flannel  drawers 
endeavored,  but  with  small  success,  to  fill  their  place.  I  was  very 
thin  and  poor  and  was  lame,  scurvy  having  drawn  the  muscles  of 
my  right  leg.  When  I  add  that  I  was  in  better  condition,  both  in 
flesh  and  dress  than  many  of  our  crowd,  some  idea  can  be  formed 
of  the  appearance  we  made.  The  prisoners  came  to  our  rescue, 
gave  us  clothes,  subscribed  money,  and  bought  vegetables  for  us. 
For  a  long  time  after  our  arrival,  whenever  any  one  was  about  to 
throw  away  an  old  crumb  or  piece  of  meat  or  worn  out  garment, 
some  bystander  would  call  out:  "Don't  throw  that  away,  give  it 
to  some  of  the  poor  Pulaski  prisoners."  The  fall  of  Richmond, 
Lee's  surrender,  and,  finally,  the  capitulation  of  Johnston's  army, 
soon  swept  from  us  every  hope  of  a  Southern  Confederacy.  But 
one  course  remained,  viz :  swear  allegiance  to  the  Government  in 
whose  power  we  were.  Upon  doing  this,  I  was  released  on  the 
13th  of  June,  1865. 

We  next  give  the  following  extract  from  a  private  letter,  written 
August  4th,  1865,  from  Great  Barrington,  Massachusetts,  by  a  Con- 
federate ofiicer,  to  a  lady  of  Richmond,  the  full  truth  of  which  can 
be  abundantly  attested : 

I  was  captured  on  Tuesday,  the  4th  of  April,  near  evening. 
Some  four  hundred  or  more,  that  had  been  collected  during  the 
day,  were  marched  a  few  miles  and  stowed  away  for  the  night  in  a 
small  tobacco  barn.  The  next  morning  we  were  told  that  if  we 
could  find  any  meat  on  the  remains  of  three  slaughtered  cattle 
(that  had  already  been  closely  cut  from)  we  were  welcome.  No 
bread  or  salt  was  ofiered,  yet  it  could  be  had  for  money.  From 
Tuesday  till  Friday  all  that  I  had  given  me  to  eat  was  tioo  ears  of 
musty  corn  and  four  crackers  !  During  that  time  we  were  exposed 
to  the  rain,  which  was  continued  for  days.  We  were  marched 
through  mud  and  water  to  City  Point,  a  distance  of  near  one 
hundred  miles  by  the  route  taken.  The  first  sustaining  food  I 
received  was  from  Mrs.  Marable,  at  Petersburg,  and  I  shall  ever  feel 
grateful  to  her  for  it.     We  arrived  at  Point  Lookout  at  night,  and 


Treatment  of  Prisoners  During  the  War.  257 

mustered  for  examination  next  morning  over  eighteen  hundred. 
After  searching  my  package  and  person,  taking  from  me  nearly 
everytliing  that  my  captors  had  left  me,  I  was  assigned,  with  two 
others,  to  a  tent  having  already  twenty-three  occupants.  I  cannot 
describe  the  appearance  of  that  tent  and  the  men  in  it.  If  there 
is  a  word  more  comprehensive  than  filthy  I  would  use  it.  It  would 
require  a  combination  of  similar  adjectives  to  give  any  description. 
There  was  given  me  a  half  loaf  of  bread  and  a  small  rusty  salt 
mackerel,  which  I  was  informed  was  for  next  day's  rations.  I  de- 
clared I  would  not  sleep  in  the  tent,  but  was  told  there  was  no 
alternative,  as  the  guards  or  patrol  would  shoot  me  if  I  slept  out- 
side. It  was  a  horrible  night.  Weary,  exhausted,  almost  heart- 
broken, I  ate  a  part  of  my  scanty  loaf,  and  placed  the  remainder 
under  my  head  with  the  fish.  I  soon  forgot  my  troubles  in  sleep. 
Waked  in  the  morning  and  found  I  had  been  relieved  of  any 
further  anxiety  for  my  bread,  as  it  had  been  taken  from  me  by 
some  starving  individual,  (a  common  occurrence).  The  mackerel 
was  left  as  undesirable.  A  chew  of  tobacco  would  purchase  two,  so 
little  demand  was  there  for  them — for  many  had  no  means  of 
cooking  them.  A  few  hours  of  reflection — that  ever  to  be  remem- 
bered morning.  There  were  none  there  that  I  had  ever  seen,  ex- 
cept the  few  acquaintances  made  on  the  march.  All  looked  dark, 
dismal — and  the  thought  I  might  remain  there  for  months  came 
nearer  to  making  my  heart  sink  in  despair  than  ever  before.  I 
thought  that  must  be  surely  the  darkest  hour  of  my  existence. 
While  thus  lamenting  my  fate,  and  almost  distrustful  of  relief,  a 
boy  near  me  asked  what  regiment  I  belonged  to.  I  told  him  the 
Washington  Artillery.  "Why,"  says  he,  "there  is  a  whole  com- 
pany of  them  fellows  here  captured  near  Petersburg."  I  began  to 
revive  a  little  on  that.  For  though  the  saying  goes,  that  "  Misery 
seeks  strange  bed  fellows,"  I  sought  for  old  acquaintances,  and 
soon  found  them.  The  surprise  was  mutual.  By  the  kindness  of 
Mr.  Vinson,  I  had  good  quarters  with  him,  and  was  more  com- 
fortable. We  had  a  small  tent,  and  07ily  six  in  it.  True,  we  were 
"  packed  like  sardines "  at  night,  but  we  were  friends,  and  each 
one  had  a  pride  and  disposition  to  keep  as  cleanly  as  we  could. 
The  food  allowed  was  as  follows :  In  the  morniug,  early,  the  men 
are  marched  by  companies  (each  about  one  hundred  and  fifty)  to 
the  "  cook  houses,"  and  receive  a  small  piece  of  boiled  beef  or 
pork.  I  do  not  think  the  largest  piece  ever  given  would  weigh 
three  ounces.  There  is  no  bread  given  at  this  time,  and  it  is  a 
common  occurrence  for  the  men  to  have  eaten  their  scanty  allow- 
ance in  a  few  mouthfuls  without  bread.  At  or  near  twelve  o'clock, 
M.,  there  is  issued  to  each  a  half  of  a  small  loaf  of  bread,  (eight 
ounce  loaves).  The  men  can  then  go  to  the  cook-houses  and  re- 
ceive a  pint  of  miserable  soup.  That  is  the  last  meal  for  the  day. 
I  never  tasted  of  the  soup  (so  called)  but  once.  It  was  revolting — 
I  might  say  revolving  to  my  stomach.  Sometimes,  in  place  of  meat, 
is  given  salt  mackerel  or  codfish — never  of  good  quality.  The 
3 


258  Southern  Historical  Society  Papers. 

water  at  the  "Point"  was  horrible,  being  strongly  tinctured  with 
copperas  and  decayed  shells,  &c.  It  was  obtained  from  wells  in 
different  parts  of  the  enclosure.  Near  the  officers  quarters'  was  one 
pump  from  which  a  little  better  water  was  sometimes  received  by 
favored  ones.  This  location  for  a  prison  was  once  condemed  by  a 
Board  of  Surgeons  on  account  of  the  poisonous  composition  of  the 
water.  Many  persons  were  greatly  affected  by  the  water,  and  the 
food  given  would  barely  sustain  life — in  many  cases  it  did  not — and 
I  feel  confident  that  money  deaths  were  caused  solely  from  scanty 
and  unhealthy  food,  and  this  too  by  a  Government- that  had  plenty. 

Whenever  any  complaint  was  made  of  the  food  or  treatment,  the 
reply  would  be :  "  'Tis  good  enough  for  you,  and  far  better  than 
Andersonville."  I  depended  very  little  upon  the  food  issued,  as  in 
a  week  after  my  imprisonment  I  received  money  from  my  friends 
and  was  enabled  to  purchase  coffee,  etc.,  and  lived  well.  Most  of 
the  Washington  Artillery  fared  well,  but  it  was  by  purchase  rather 
than  favor.  The  sutlers  were  most  happy  to  receive  our  money, 
and  charged  more  than  double  the  market  value  for  their  supplies. 

We  were  fortunate  even  thus,  for  there  were  thousands  of  that 
motley  group  that  for  months  had  not  a  sufficiency  of  food.  I 
have  seen  them  many  times  fishing  out  from  the  barrels  (in  which 
all  the  filth  and  offal  of  the  camp  is  thrown)  crusts  of  bread, 
potato  peelings,  onion  tops,  etc.,  etc. — in  fact,' anything  from  which 
they  might  fincl  little  sustenance.  I  had  never  before  witnessed  to 
what  great  extremity  hunger  would  drive  a  human  being.  The 
discipline  of  the  prison  was  very  strict.  The  guard  was  most  of 
the  time  of  colored  troops,  who,  when  (as  they  usually  were)  badly 
treated  by  their  officers,  would  vent  their  rage  upon  the  prisoners. 

Much  is  said  in  the  papers  of  the  "  Dead  Line,"  over  which  so 
many  "blue  coats"  had  "accidentally"  passed  and  were  shot  for 
their  "  imprudence."  In  all  prisons  the  penalty  for  passing  the 
"Dead  Line"  is  well  known,  and  there  can  be  no  excuse  in  such 
attempt.  At  Point  Lookout  Confederate  soldiers  were  shot  for 
being  at  the  pumps  for  water,  which  had  always  been  permitted  at 
all  hours  of  night,  till  the  self-constituted  restriction  of  the  negro 
guard  caused  several  men  to  be  severely  wounded.  I  was  an  eye- 
witness of  many  .disgusting  scenes,  almost  brutal  on  the  part  of 
the  guard,  towards  simple  and  ignorant  prisoners.  That  prison 
was  said  to  be  the  best  of  all  the  Yankee  prisons — if  so,  I  am 
truly  sorry  for  those  that  were  in  the  othere.  I  know  not  what 
Andersonville  was.  I  do  not  doubt  but  there  was  great  suffering, 
but  all  was  done  by  the  Government  that  could  be,  and  we  had 
not  the  resources  of  the  world  as  had  the  Yankees. 

Thus  have  I  given  you  some  particulars.  It  is  really  an  "  un- 
varnished tale,"  but  it  is  true,  and  I  can  safely  challenge  the  denial 
of  a  word  of  it. 


Treatment  of  Prisoners  During  the  War.  259 


HON.    A.    M.    KEILEY  S   NARRATIVE. 

In  1S66  Hon.  A.  M.  Keiley,  (then  of  Petersburg,  but  for  some 
years  past  the'^scholarly  and  popular  Mayor  of  Richmond),  pub- 
lished a  volume  on  his  prison  life  at  Point  Lookout  and  Elmira, 
which  we  would  be  glad  to  see  read  by  all  who  really  wish  to  know 
the  truth  concerning  those  prisons.  We  make  the  following  ex- 
tracts concerning  Point  Lookout: 

The  routine  of  prison-life  at  Point  Lookout  was  as  follows: 
Between  dawn  and  sunrise  a  "  reveille "  horn  summoned  us  into 
line  by  companies,  ten  of  which  constituted  each  division — of  which 
I  have  before  spoken — and  here  the  roll  was  called.  This  perform- 
ance was  hurried  over  with  much  as  haste  as  is  ascribed  to  certain 
marital  ceremonies  in  a  poem  that  it  would  be  obviously  improper 
to  make  a  more  particular  allusion  to;  and  those  whose  love  of  a 
nap  predominates  over  fear  of  the  Yankees,  usually  tumble  in  for 
another  snooze.  About  eight  o'clock  the  breakfasting  began.  This 
operation  consisted  in  the  forming  of  the  companies  again  into 
line,  and  introducing  them  under  lead  of  their  sergeants  into  the 
mess-rooms,  where  a  slice  of  bread  and  a  piece  of  pork  or  beef — 
lean  in  the  former  and  fat  in  the  latter  being  contraband  of  war — 
were  placed  at  intervals  of  about  twenty  inches  apart.  The  meat 
was  tisually  about  four  or  five  ounces  in  weight.  These  we  seized 
upon,  no  one  being  allowed  to  touch  a  piece,  however,  until  the 
whole  company  entered,  and  each  man  was  in  position  opposite 
his  ration  (universally  pronounced  raytion,  among  our  enemies,  as 
it  is  almost  as  generally  called  with  the  "a"  short  among  ourselves, 
symbolical,  you  observe,  of  the  shortness  of  provant  in  Dixie).  This 
over,  a  detail  of  four  or  five  men  from  each  company — made  at 
morning  roll-call — formed  themselves  into  squads  for  the  cleansing 
of  the  camp ;  an  operation  which  the  Yankees  everywhere  attend 
to  with  more  diligence  than  ourselves.  The  men  then  busied 
themselves  with  the  numberless  occupations  which  the  fertility  of 
American  genius  suggests,  of  which  I  will  have  something  to  say 
hereafter,  until  dinner-time,  when  they  were  again  carried  to  the 
mess-houses,  where  another  slice  of  bread,  and  rather  over  a  half- 
pint  of  watery  slop,  by  courtesy  called  "soup,"  greeted  the  eyes  of 
such  ostrich-stomached  animals  as  could  find  comfort  in  that  sub- 
stitute, for  nourishment. 

About  sunset,  at  the  winding  of  another  horn,  the  roll  was  again 
called,  to  be  sure  that  no  one  had  "flanked  out,"  and,  about  an 
hour  after,  came  "taps;"  after  which  all  were  required  to  remain 
in  their  quarters  and  keep  silent. 

The  Sanitary  Commission,  a  benevolent  association  of  exempts 
in  aid  of  the  Hospital  Department  of  the  Yankee  army,  published 
in  July,  1865,  a  "  Narrative  of  Sufferings  of  United  States  Officers 
and  Soldiers,  Prisoners  of  War,"  in  which  a  parallel  is  drawn  be- 


260  Southern  Historical  Society  Papers. 

tween  the  treatment  of  prisoners  on  both  sides,  greatly  to  the 
disadvantage,  of  course,  of  "Dixie." 

An  air  of  truthfuhiess  is  given  to  tins  production  by  a  number  of 
aflidavits  of  Confederate  prisoners,  which  made  many  a  Confederate 
stare  and  laugh  to  read. 

They  were  generally  the  statements  of  "galvanized"  rebels,  "so 
called;"  that  is,  prisoners  who  had  applied  for  permission  to  take 
the  oath,  or  of  prisoners  who  had  little  offices  in  the  various  pens, 
which  they  would  lose  on  the  whisper  of  any  thing  disagreeable, 
and  their  testimony  is  entitled  to  the  general  credit  of  depositions 
taken  "under  duress." 

But  among  these  documentary  statements,  in  glorification  of  the 
humanity  of  the  Great  Republic,  is  one' on  page  89,  from  Miss  Dix, 
the  grand  female  dry-nurse  of  Yankee  Doodle  (avIio,  by  the  b}', 
gave,  I  understand,  unpardonable  offence  to  the  pulchritude  of 
Yankeedom,  by  i^ersistently  refimng  to  employ  any  hut  ugly  xcomcn  as 
nurses — the  vampire) — which  affirms  that  the  prisoners  at  Point 
Lookout  "were  supplied  with  vegetables,  with  the  best  of  wheat 
bread,  and  fresh  and  salt  meat  three  times  daily  in  abundant 
measure." 

Common  gallantry  forbids  the  characterization  of  this  remarkable 
extract  in  harsher  terms  than  to  say  that  it  is  untrue  in  every  par- 
ticular. 

It  is  quite  likely  that  some  Yankee  official  at  Point  Lookout 
made  this  statement  to  the  benevolent  itinerant,  and  her  only  fault 
may  be  in  suppressing  the  fact  that  she  "iras  infortned"  etc.,  etc. 
But  it  is  altogether  inexcusable  in  the  Sanitary  Commission  to  at- 
tempt to  palm  such  a  ftilsehood  upon  the  world,  knowing  its  falsity, 
as  they  must  have  done.  For  my  part,  I  never  saw  any  one  get 
enough  of  any  thing  to  eat  at  Point  Lookout,  except  the  soup,  and 
a  teaspoonful  of  that  was  too  much  for  ordinary  digestion. 

These  digestive  discomforts  were  greatly  enhanced  by  the  villain- 
ous character  of  the  water,  which  is  so  impregnated  with  some 
mineral  as  to  offend  every  nose,  and  induce  diarrhoea  in  almost 
every  alimentary  canal.  It  colors  every  thing  black  in  Avhich  it  is 
allowed  to  rest,  and  a  scum  rises  on  the  top  of  a  vessel  if  it  is  left 
standing  during  the  night,  which  reflects  the  prismatic  colors  as 
distinctly  as  the  surface  of  a  stagnant  jdooI.  Several  examinations 
of  this  water  have  been  made  by  chemical  analysis,  as  I  was  told 
by  a  Federal  surgeon  in  the  prison,  and  they  have  uniformly  re- 
sulted in  its  condemnation  by  scientific  men  ;  but  the  advantages 
of  the  position  to  the  Yankees,  as  a  prison  pen,  so  greatly  counter- 
balanced any  claim  of  humanity,  that  Point  Lookout  t  felt  sure 
would  remain  a  prison  camp  until  the  end  of  the  war,  especially  as 
there  are  wells  outside  of  "the  Pen,"  which  are  not  liable  to  these 
charges,  the  water  of  which  is  indeed  perfectly  pure  and  whole- 
some, so  that  the  Yanks  suffer  no  damage  therefrom.  Tlie  ground 
was  inclosed  at  Point  Lookout  for  a  prison  in  July,  1863,  and  the 
first  instalment  of  prisoners  arrived  there  on  the  2oth  of  that 


Treatment  of  Prisoners  During  the  War.  261 

month  from  the  Old  Capitol,  Fort  Delaware  and  Fort  McHenry, 
some  of  the  Gettysburg  captures.  One  hundred  and  thirty-six 
arrived  on  the  olst  of  the  same  month  from  Washington,  and  on 
the  10th  of  August  another  batch  came  from  Baltimore,  having 
been  captured  at  Falling  Waters.  Every  few  weeks  the  number 
was  increased,  until  they  began  to  count  by  thousands. 

During  the  scorching  summer,  whose  severity  during  the  day  is 
as  great  on  that  sand-barren  as  anywhere  in  the  Union  north  of  the 
Gulf,  and  through  the  hard  winter,  which  is  more  severe  at  that 
point  than  anywhere  in  the  country  south  of  Boston,  these  poor 
fellows  were  confined  here  in  open  tents,  on  the  naked  ground, 
without  a  plank  or  a  handful  of  straw  between  them  and  the  heat 
or  frost  of  the  earth. 

And  when,  in  the  winter,  a  high  tide  and  an  easterly  gale  would 
flood  the  whole  surface  of  the  pen,  and  freeze  as  it  flooded,  the 
sufferings  of  the  half-clad  wretches,  many  accustomed  to  the  almost 
vernal  warmth  of  the  Gulf,  may  easily  be  imagined.  Many  died 
outright,  and  many  more  will  go  to  their  graves  crippled  and 
racked  with  rheumatisms,  which  they  date  from  the  winter  of 
1863-4.  Even  the  well-clad  sentinels,  although  relieved  every 
thirty  minutes  (instead  of  every  two  hours,  as  is  the  army  rule), 
perished  in  some  instances,  and  in  others  lost  their  feet  and  hands, 
through  the  terrible  cold  of  that  season. 

During  all  this  season  the  ration  of  wood  allowed  to  each  man 
was  an  arm-full  for  five  days,  and  this  had  to  cook  for  him  as  well 
as  warm  him,  for  at  that  time  there  were  no  public  cook-houses 
and  mess-rooms.  , 

An  additional  refinement  of  cruelty  was  the  regulation  which 
always  obtained  at  Point  Lookout,  and  which  I  believe  was  peculiar 
to  the  prison,  under  which  the  Yanks  stole  from  us  any  bed-clothing 
we  might  possess,  beyond  one  blanket!  This  petty  larceny  was 
effected  through  an  instrumentality  they  called  inspections.  Once  in 
every  ten  days  an  inspection  was  ordered,  when  all  the  prisoners 
turned  out  in  their  respective  divisions  and  companies  in  marching 
order.  They  ranged  themselves  in  long  lines  between  the  rows  of 
tents,  with  their  blankets  and  haversacks — those  being  the  only 
articles  considered  orthodox  possessions  of  a  rebel.  A  Yankee  in- 
spected each  man,  taking  away  his  extra  blanket,  if  he  had  one, 
and  appropriating  any  other  sujierfluity  he  might  chance  to  pos- 
sess ;  and  this  accomplished,  he  visited  the  tents  and  seized  every 
thing  therein  that  under  the  convenient  nomenclature  of  the  Fed- 
erals was  catalogued  'as  "contraband" — blankets,  boots,  hats,  any 
thing.  The  only  way  to  avoid  this  was  by  a  judicious  use  of 
greenbacks — and  a  trifle  would  suffice — it  being  true,  with  honora- 
ble exceptions,  of  course,  that  Yankee  soldiers  are  very  much  like 
ships  :  to  move  them,  you  must  "  slush  the  ways." 

In  the  matter  of  clothing,  the  management  at  Point  Lookout  was 
simply  infamous.  You  could  receive  nothing  in  the  way  of  cloth- 
ing without  giving  up  the  corresponding  article  which  you  might 


262  Southern  Historical  Society  Papers. 

chance  to  possess ;  and  so  rigid  was  this  regulation,  that  men  who 
came  there  barefooted  have  been  compelled  to  beg  or  buy  a  pair  of 
worn-out  shoes  to  carry  to  the  office  in  lieu  of  a  pair  sent  them  hy 
their  friends,  before  they  could  receive  the  latter.  To  what  end 
this  plundering  was  committed  I  could  never  ascertain,  nor  was  I 
ever  able  to  hear  any  better,  or  indeed  any  other  reason  advanced 
for  it,  than  that  the  possession  of  extra  clothing  would  enable  the 
prisoners  to  bribe  their  guards !  Heaven  help  the  virtue  that  a 
pair  of  second-hand  Confederate  breeches  could  seduce  ! 

As  I  have  mentioned  the  guards,  and  as  this  is  a  mosaic  chapter, 
I  may  as  well  speak  here  as  elsewhere  of  the  method  by  which 
order  was  kej^t  in  camp.  During  the  day,  the  platform  around  the 
pen  was  constantly  paced  by  sentinels,  chiefly  of  the  Invalid  (or, 
as  it  is  now  called,  the  Veteran  Reserve)  Corps,  whose  duty  it  was 
to  see  that  the  prisoners  were  orderly,  and  particularly,  that  no  one 
crossed  "  the  dead-line."  This  is  a  shallow  ditch  traced  around 
within  the  inclosure,  about  fifteen  feet  from  the  fence.  The  penalty 
for  stepping  over  this  is  death,  and  although  the  sentinels  are  pro- 
bably instructed  to  warn  any  one  who  may  be  violating  the  rule, 
the  order  does  not  seem  to  be  imperative,  and  the  negroes,  when 
on  duty,  rarely,  troubled  themselves  with  this  superfluous  formality. 
Their  Avarning  was  the  click  of  the  lock,  sometimes  the  discharge 
of  their  muskets.  These  were  on  duty  during  my  stay  at  the  Point 
every  third  day,  and  their  insolence  and  brutality  were  intolerable. 

Besides  this  detail  of  day-guard,  which  of  course  was  preserved 
during  the  night,  a  patrol  made  the  rounds  constantly  from  "taps," 
the  last  horn  at  night,  to  "reveille."  These  were  usually  armed 
with  pistols  for  greater  convenience,  and  as  they  are  shielded  from 
scrutiny  by  the  darkness,  the  indignities  and  cruelties  they  often- 
times inflicted  on  prisoners,  who  for  any  cause  might  be  out  of 
their  tents  between  those  hours,  especially  when  the  patrol  were 
black,  were  outrageous.  Many  of  these  were  of  a  character  which 
could  not  by  any  periphrase  be  decently  expressed — they  Avere, 
however,  precisely  the  acts  which  a  set  of  vulgar  brutes,  suddenly 
invested  with  irresponsible  authority,  might  be  expected  to  take 
delight  in ;  and,  as  it  was  of  course  impossible  to  .recognize  the 
perpetrators,  redress  was  unattainable,  even  if  one  could  brook  the 
sneer  and  insult  which  would  inevitably  follow  complaint.  Indeed, 
most  of  the  Yankees  did  not  disg)iise  their  delight  at  the  insolence 
of  these  Congoes. 

Under  date  of  Thursday,  June  16th,  he  writes : 

Saw  to-day,  for  the  first  time,  the  chief  provost-marshal,  Major 
H.  G.  O.  Weymouth.  He  is  a  handsome  official,  with  ruddy  face, 
a  rather  frank  countenance,  and  a  cork-leg.  He  conducts  this  es- 
tablishment on  the  ^' laisscz  faire^^  principle — in  short,  he  lets  it 
alone  severely.  Whatever  the  abuses  or  complaints,  or  reforms, 
the  only  way  to  reach  him  is  by  communications  through  official 
channels,  said  channels  being  usually  the  authors  of  the  abuses ! 


Treatment  of  Prisoners  During  the  War.  263 

It  may  be  easily  computed  how  many  documents  of  this  descrip- 
tion would  be  likely  to  meet  his  eye. 

Two  or  three  times  a  week  he  rides  into  camp  with  a  sturdy 
knave  behind  him,  at  a  respectful  distance — makes  the  run  of  one 
or  two  streets,  and  is  gone,  and  I  presume  sits  down  over  a  glass  of 
brandy  and  water,  and  indites  a  most  satisfactory  report  of  the 
condition  of  the  "rebs,"  for  the  perusal  of  his  superior  officer,  or 
plies  some  credulous  spinster  with  specious  fictions  about  the  com- 
fort, abundance,  and  general  desirableness  of  Yankee  prisons. 
The  Major  bears  a  bad  reputation  here,  in  the  matter  of  money  ;  all 
of  which,  I  presume,  arises  from  the  unreasonableness  of  the  "  rebs," 
who  are  not  aware  that  they  have  no  rights  which  Yankees  are 
bound  to  respect. 

Friday,  June  17th. — A  salute  of  thirteen  guns  heralded  this  morn- 
ing the  arrival  of  General  Augur,  who  commands  the  department 
of  Washington,  About  twelve  M.,  the  general,  with  a  few  other 
officials,  made  the  tour  of  camp,  performing,  in  the  prevailing  per- 
functory manner,  the  official  duty  of  inspection. 

Nothing  on  earth  can  possibly  be  more  ridiculous  and  absurd 
than  the  great  majority  of  official  inspections  of  all  sorts  ;  but  this 
"  banged  Bannagher."  General  Augur  did  not  speak  to  a  prisoner, 
enter  a  tent,  peep  into  a  mess-room,  or,  so  far  as  I  saw,  take  a 
single  step  to  inform  himself  how  the  pen  was  managed. 

Weymouth  probably  fixed  up  a  satisfactory  report,  however, 
when  the  general's  brief  exhibition  of  his  new  uniform  to  the 
appalled  "rebs"  wa's  over. 

Visited  all  my  comrades  to-day,  and,  with  one  exception,  found 
them  all  suffering  like  myself  from  exhausting  diarrhoea,  induced 
by  the  poisonous  water. 

In  his  narrative  of  prison  life  at  Elmira,  after  speaking  in  high 
terms  of  the  kindly  feeling  towards  the  prisoners  shown  by  Major 
Colt,  the  commandant  of  the  prison,  Mr.  Keiley  writes  as  follows  : 

In  the  executive  duties  of  his  office.  Major  Colt  was  assisted  by 
fifteen  or  twenty  officers,  and  as  many  non-commissioned  officers, 
chiefly  of  the  militia  or  the  veteran  reserves.  Among  them  were 
some  characters  which  are  worth  a  paragraph. 

There  was  a  long-nosed,  long-faced,  long-jawed,  long-bearded, 
long-bodied,  long-legged,  endless-footed,  and  long-skirted  curiosity, 
yclept  Captain  Peck,  ostensibly  engaged  in  taking  charge  of  certain 
companies  of  "  rebs,"  but  really  employed  in  turning  a  penny  by 
huckstering  the  various  products  of  prisoners'  skill — an  occupation 
Tery  profitable  to  Peck,  but  generally  unsatisfactory,  in  a  pecuniary 
way,  to  the  "  rebs."  Many  of  them  have  told  me  of  the  impossi- 
bility of  getting  their  just  dues  from  the  prying,  round-shouldered 
captain,  who  had  a  snarl  and  an  oath  for  every  one  out  of  whom 
he  was  not,  at  that  instant,  making  money. 

Another  rarity  of  the  pen  was  Lieutenant  John  McC,  a  braw 


264  Southern  Historical  Society  Papers. 

chiel  frac  the  land  o'  cakes,  who  was  a  queer  compound  of  good- 
nature and  brutality.  To  some  of  us  he  was  uniformly  polite,  but 
he  had  his  pistol  out  on  any  occasion  when  dealing  with  the 
majority  of  the  "  Johnnies,"  and  would  fly  into  a  passion  over  the 
merest  nothing,  that  would  have  been  exceedingly  amusing,  but 
for  a  wicked  habit  he  had  of  laying  about  him  with  a  stick,  a  tent 
pole — any  thing  that  fell  into  his  hands.  He  was  opening  a  trench 
one  day,  through  the  camp,  when,  for  the  crime  of  stepj^ing  across 
it,  he  forced  a  poor,  sick  boy,  who  was  on  his  way  to  the  dispensary 
for  medicine,  to  leap  backwards  and  forwards  over  it  till  he  fell 
from  exhaustion  amid  the  voluble  oaths  of  the  valiant  lieutenant. 
One  Lieutenant  R.  kept  McC.  in  countenance  by  following  closely 
his  example.  He  is  a  little  comiDound  of  fice  and  weasel,  and 
having  charge  of  the  cleaning  up  of  the  camp,  has  abundant  op- 
portunities to  bull}'-  and  insult,  but  being,  fortunately,  very  far  short 
of  grenadier  size,  he  docs  not  use  his  boot  or  fist  as  freely  as  his 
great  exemplar.  No  one,  however,  was  safe  from  either  of  them, 
who,  however  accidentally  and  innocently,  fell  in  their  way,  physi- 
cally or  metaphorically. 

Of  the  same  block  Captain  Bowden  was  a  chij) :  a  fair-haired, 
light-moustached,  Saxon-faced  "Yank" — far  the  worst  type  of 
man,  let  me  tell  you,  yet  discovered — whose  whole  intercourse  with 
the  prisoners  was  the  essence  of  brutality.  An  illustration  will 
paint  him  more  thoroughly  than  a  philippic'.  A  prisoner  named 
Hale,  belonging  to  the  old  Stonewall  brigade,  was  discovered  one 
day  rather  less  sober  than  was  allowable  to  any  but  the  loyal,  and 
Bowden  being  officer  of  the  guard,  arrested  him  and  demanded 
where  he  got  his  liquor.  This  he  refused  to  tell,  as  it  would  com- 
promise others,  and  any  one  but  a  Yankee  would  have  put  him  in 
the  guard-house,  compelled  him  to  wear  a  barrel  shirt,  or  inflicted 
some  punishment  proportionate  to  his  offence.  All  this  would  liave 
been  very  natural,  but  not  Bowdenish,  so  this  valorous  Parolles 
determined  to  apply  the  torture  to  force  a  confession  !  Hale  was 
accordingly  tied  up  by  the  thumbs — that  is,  his  thumbs  were 
fastened  securely  togetlier  behind  his  back,  and  a  rope  being  at- 
tached to  the  cord  uniting  them,  it  was  passed  over  a  cross  bar 
over  his  head  and  hauled  down,  until  it  raised  the  sufferer  so 
nearly  off'  the  ground  that  the  entire  weight  of  his  body  was  sus- 
tained by  his  thumbs,  strained  in  an  unnatural  position,  his  toes 
merely  touching  the  ground.  The  torture  of  this  at  the  wrists  and 
shoulder  joints  is  exquisite,  but  Hale  persisted  in  refusing  to  peach, 
and  called  on  his  fellow-prisoners,  many  of  whom  were  witnesses 
of  this  refined  villainy,  to  remember  this  when  they  got  home. 
Bowden  grew  exasperated  at  his  victim's  fortitude,  and  determined 
to  gag  him.  This  he  essayed  to  accomplish  by  fastening  a  heavy 
oak  tent-pin  in  his  mouth  ;  and  when  he  would  not  open  his  mouth 
sufficiently — not  an  easy  operation — he  struck  him  in  the  face 
with  the  oaken  billet,  a  blow  which  broke  several  of  his  teeth  and 
covered  his  mouth  with  blood ! 


Treatment  of  Prisoners  During  the  War.  265 

On  the  other  hand,  some  of  the  officers  were  as  humane  and 
merciful  as  these  wretches  were  brutal  and  cowardly,  and  all  who 
were  my  fellow-prisoners  will  recall,  Avith  grateful  remembrance, 
Captain  Benjamin  Hunger,  Lieutenant  Dalgleish,  Sergeant-Major 
Rudd,  Lieutenant  McKee,  Lieutenant  Haverty,  commissary  of  one 
of  the  regiments  guarding  us,  a  whole-souled  Fenian,  formerly  in 
the  book-business  in  New  York,  and  still  there  probably,  and  one 
or  two  others. 

These  officers  were  assigned  in  the  proportion  of  one  to  every 
company  at  first,  but  to  every  three  hundred  or  four  hundred  men 
afterwards,  and  were  charged  with  the  duty  of  superintending 
roll-calls,  inspecting  quarters,  and  seeing  that  the  men  under  their 
charge  got  their  rations ;  and  the  system  was  excellent. 

During  the  month  of  July,  four  thousand  three  hundred  and 
twenty-three  prisoners  were  entered  on  the  records  of  Elmira  prison, 
and  by  the  29th  of  August,  the  date  of  the  last  arrivals,  nine 
thousand  six  hundred  and  seven. 

The  barrack  accommodations  did  not  suffice  for  quite  half  of 
them,  and  the  remainder  were  provided  with  "A"  tents,  in  which 
they  continued  to  be  housed  when  I  left  the  prison  in  the  middle 
of  the  following  October,  although  the  weather  was  piercingly  cold. 
Thinly  clad  as  they  came  from  a  summer's  campaign,  many  of 
them  without  blankets,  and  without  even  a  handful  of  straw  be- 
tween them  and  the  frozen  earth,  it  \Yill  surprise  no  one  that  the 
suffering,  even  at  that  early  day,  was  considerable. 

As  I  left,  however,  the  contributions  of  the  Confederate  Govern- 
ment, which,  despairing  of  procuring  an  exchange,  was  taxing  its 
exhausted  energies  to  aid  the  prisoners,  began  to  come  in. 

An  agent  was  in  New  York  selling  cotton  for  the  purpose,  and 
many  boxes  of  blankets  and  coarse  clothing  were  furnished  from 
the  proceeds  of  the  sale. 

This  tender  regard  was  a  happy  contrast  to  the  barbarity  of 
Washington  management,  which  seemed  to  feel  the  utmost  in- 
difference to  the  sufferings  of  its  soldiers,  and  embarrassed  their 
exchange  by  every  device  of  delay  and  every  suggestion  of  stub- 
bornness. 

As  I  have  spoken  of  the  military  government  of  Elmira  prison, 
it  may  not  be  inappropriate  to  pursue  the  statistical  view,  now  that 
I  am  in  it,  by  a  brief  chapter  on  the  Medical  and  Commissary 
Departments,  before  I  resume  the  thread  of  the  more  personal 
portion  of  my  narrative. 

The  chief  of  the  former  department  was  a  club-footed  little  gen- 
tleman, with  an  abnormal  head  and  a  snaky  look  in  his  eyes, 
named  Major  E.  L.  Sanger.  On  our  arrival  in  Elmira,  another 
surgeon,  remarkable  chiefly  for  his  unaffected  simplicity  and  virgin 
ignorance  of  everything  appertaining  to  medicine,  played  doctor 
there.  But  as  the  prisoners  increased  in  numbers,  a  more  formal 
and  formidable  staff  was  organized,  with  Sanger  at  the  head. 
<^^anger  was  simply  a  brute,  as  we  found  when  we  learned  the 


266  Southern  Historical  Society  Papers. 

whole  truth  about  him  from  his  own  j)eople.  If  he  had  not  avoided 
a  court-martial  by  resigning  his  position,  it  is  likely  that  even  a 
military  commission  would  have  found  it  impossible  to  screen  his 
brutality  to  the  sick,  although  the  fiict  that  the  United  States  hanged 
no  one  for  the  massacre  of  Indian  women  and  sucking  infiints 
during  the  year  1865,  inspires  the  fear  that  this  systematic  *  *  *  * 
of  Confederate  prisoners  would  have  been  commended  for  his 
patriotism. 

He  Avas  assisted  by  Dr.  Rider,  of  Rochester,  one  of  the  few 
"  copperheads "  whom  I  met  in  any  office,  great  or  small,  at  the 
North.  My  association  was  rather  more  intimate  with  him  than 
with  any  one  of  the  others,  and  I  believe  him  to  have  been  a  com- 
petent and  faithful  officer.  Personally,  I  acknowledge  his  many 
kindnesses  with  gratitude.  The  rest  of  the  "meds"  v>'ere,  in  truth, 
a  motley  crew  in  the  main,  most  of  them  being  selected  from  the 
impossibility,  it  would  seem,  of  doing  any  thing  else  with  them. 
I  remember  one  of  the  worthies,  whose  miraculous  length  of  leg 
and  neck  suggested  "crane"  to  all  observers,  whose  innocence  of 
medicine  was  quite  refreshing.  On  being  sent  for  to  prescribe  for 
a  prisoner,  who  was  said  to  have  bilious  fever,  he  asked  the  drug- 
gist, a  "reb,"  in  the  most  naive  manner,  what  was  the  usual  treat- 
ment for  that  disease !  Fortunately,  during  his  stay  at  Elmira, 
which  was  not  long,  there  were  no  drugs  in  the  dispensary,  or  I 
shudder  to  picture  the  consequences.  This  department  was  con- 
stantly undergoing  changes,  and  I  suspect  that  the  wliole  system 
was  intended  as  part  of  the  education  of  the  young  doctors  assigned 
to  us,  for  as  soon  as  they  learned  to  distinguish  between  quinine 
and  magnesia  they  were  removed  to  another  field  of  labor. 

The  whole  camp  was  divided  into  wards,  to  which  physicians 
were  assigned,  among  whom  were  three  "rebel"  prisoners,  Dr. 
Lynch,  of  Baltimore,  Dr.  Martin,  of  South  Carolina,  and  Dr. 
Graham,  formerly  of  Stonewall  Jackson's  staff",  and  a  fellow-towns- 
man of  the  lamented  hero.  These  ward  physicians  treated  the 
simplest  cases  in  their  patients'  barrack,  and  transferred  the  more 
dangerous  ones  to  the  hospitals,  of  which  there  were  ten  or  twelve, 
capable  of  accommodating  about  eighty  patients  each.  Here  every 
arrangement  was  made  that  carpenters  could  make  to  insure  the 
patients  against  unnecessary  mortality,  and,  indeed,  a  system  was 
professed  which  would  have  delighted  the  heart  of  a  Sister  of 
Charity  ;  but,  alas!  the  practice  was  quite  another  thing.  The  most 
scandalous  neglect  prevailed  even  in  so  simple  a  matter  as  pro- 
viding ifood  for  the  sick,  and  I  do  not  doubt  that  many  of  those 
who  died  perished  from  actual  starvation. 

One  of  the  Petersburg  prisoners  having  become  so  sick  as  to  be 
sent  to  the  hospital,  he  complained  to  his  friends  who  visited  him 
that  he  could  get  nothing  to  eat,  and  was  dying  in  consequence, 
when  they  made  application  for  leave  to  buy  him  some  potatoes 
and  roast  them  for  him.  Dr.  S.  not  being  consultei],  the  request 
was  granted,  and  when,  a  few  hours  afterwards,  the  roj^ted  potat. 


Treatment  of  Prisoners  During  the  War.  267 

were  brought  in,  the  poor  invalids  on  the  neighboring  cots  crawled 
from  their  beds  and  begged  the  peelings  to  satisfy  the  hunger  that 
was  gnawing  them. 

When  complaint  was  made  of  this  brutality  to  the  sick,  there 
was  always  a  convenient  official  excuse.  Sometimes  the  fault 
would  be  that  a  lazy  doctor  would  not  make  out  his  provision  re- 
turn in  time,  in  which  case  his  whole  ward  must  go  without  food, 
or  with  an  inadequate  supply,  till  the  next  day.  Another  time 
there  would  be  a  difficulty  between  the  chief  surgeon  and  the  com- 
missary, whose  general  relations  were  of  the  stripe  characterized  by 
S.  P.  Andrews  as  "  cat-and-dogamy,"  which  would  result  in  the 
latter  refusing  to  furnish  the  former  with  bread  for  the  sick !  In 
almost  all  cases  the  ^''spiritus  frumenti^^  failed  to  get  to  the  patients, 
or  in  so  small  a  quantity  after  the  various  tolls  that  it  would  not 
quicken  the  circulation  of  a  canary. 

But  the  great  fault,  next  to  the  scant  supply  of  nourishment,  was 
the  inexcusable  deficiency  of  medicine.  During  several  weeks,  in 
which  dysentery  and  inflammation  of  the  bowels  were  the  preva- 
lent diseases  in  prison,  there  was  not  a  grain  of  any  preparation  of 
opium  in  the  dispensary,  and  many  a  poor  fellow  died  for  the  want 
of  a  common  medicine,  which  no  family  is  ordinarily  without — that 
is,  if  men  ever  die  for  want  of  drugs. 

There  would  be  and  is  much  excuse  for  such  deficiencies  in  the 
South — and  this  is  a  matter  which  the  Yankees  studiously  ignore — 
inasmuch  as  the  blockade  renders  it  impossible  to  procure  any 
luxuries  even  for  our  own  sick,  and  curtails  and  renders  enor- 
mously expensive  the  supply  of  drugs  of  the  simplest  kind,  pro- 
viding thej^are  exotics;  but  in  a  nation  whose  boast  it  is  that  they 
do  not  feel  the  war,  with  the  world  open  to  them  and  supjDlies  of 
all  sorts  wonderfully  abundant,  it  is  simply  infamous  to  starve  the 
sick  as  they  did  there,  and  equally  discreditable  to  deny  them 
medicines — indispensable  according  to  Esculapian  traditions.  The 
result  of  the  ignorance  of  the  doctors,  and  the  sparseness  of  these 
supplies,  was  soon  apparent  in  the  shocking  mortality  of  this  camp, 
notwithstanding  the  healthfulness  claimed  for  the  situation.  This 
exceeded  even  the  reported  mortality  at  Andersonville,  great  as 
that  was,  and  disgraceful  as  it  was  to  our  government,  if  it  resulted 
from  causes  which  were  within  its  control. 

I  know  the  reader,  if  a  Northern  man,  will  deny  this,  and  point 
to  the  record  of  the  Wirz  trial.  I  object  to  the  testimony.  There 
never  was,  in  all  time,  such  a  mass  of  lies  as  that  evidence,  for  the 
most  part,  could  have  been  proved  to  be  if  it  had  been  possible  to 
sift  the  testimony  or  examine,  before  a  jury,  the  witnesses.  I  take, 
as  the  basis  of  my  comparison,  the  published  report  made  by  four 
returned  Andersonville  prisoners,  who  were  allowed  to  come  North 
on  their  representation  that  they  could  induce  their  humane  Go- 
vernment to  assent  to  an  exchange.  Vana  spes.  Edwin  M.  Stanton 
would  have  seen  the  whole  of  them  die  before  he  would  give 
General  Lee  one  able-bodied  soldier. 


268  Southern  Historical  Society  Papers. 

These  prisoners  alleged  (I  quote  from  memory)  that  out  of  a 
population  of  about  thirty-six  thousand  at  that  pen,  six  thousand, 
or  one-sixth  of  the  whole,  died  between  the  first  of  February  and  the 
first  of  August,  1864.  Now  at  Elmira  the  quota  was  not  made  up 
till  the  last  of  August,  so  that  September  -was  the  first  month 
during  ■which  any  fair  estimate  of  the  mortality  of  the  camp  could 
be  made.     Now,  out  of  less  than  nine  thousand  five  hundred 

PRISONERS  ON  THE  FIRST  OF  SEPTEMBER,  THREE  HUNDRED  AND  EIGHTY- 
SIX  DIED  THAT  MONTH. 

At  Andersonville  the  mortality  averaged  a  thousand  a  month 
out  of  thirty-six  thousand,  or  one  thirty-sixth.  At  Elmira  it  was 
three  hundred  and  eight3''-six,  out  of  nine  thousand  five  hundred, 
or  one  twenty-fijth  of  the  whole.  At  Elmira  it  was  four  per  cent.;  at 
Andersonville,  less  than  three  per  cent.  If  the  mortality  at  Ander- 
sonville had  been  as  great  as  at  Elmira,  the  deaths  should  have 
been  one  thousand  four  hundred  and  forty  per  month,  or  fifty  per 
cent,  more  than  they  were. 

I  speak  by  the  card  respecting  these  matters,  having  kept  the 
morning  return  of  deaths  for  the  last  month  and  a  half  of  my  life 
in  Elmira,  and  transferred  the  figures  to  my  diary,  which  lies  be- 
fore me;  and  this,  be  it  remembered,  in  a  country  where  food  was 
cheap  and  abundant;  where  all  the  appliances  of  the  remedial  art 
were  to  be  had  on  mere  requisition ;  where  there  was  no  military 
necessity  requiring  the  government  to  sacrifice  almost  every  con- 
sideration to  the  inaccessibility  of  the  prison,  and  the  securing  of 
the  prisoners,  and  where  Nature  had  furnished  every  possible  re- 
quisite for  salubrity. 

And  now  that  I  am  speaking  of  the  death-record,  I  will  jot  down 
two  ratlier  singular  facts  in  connection  therewith. 

The  first  was  the  unusual  mortality  among  the  prisoners  from 
North  Carolina.  In  my  diary  I  find  several  entries  like  the  follow- 
ing : 

Monday,    October  M. — Deaths  yesterday,  16,  of  whom  11    N.   C. 
Tuesday,    October  A.th. — Deaths  j'csterday,  14,  of  whom     7   N.  C. 

Now,  the  proportion  of  North  Carolinians  was  nothing,  even  ap- 
proximating what  might  have  been  expected  from  this  record.  I 
commit  the  fact  to  Mr.  Gradgrind.  Can  it  be  explained  by  the 
great  attachment  the  people  of  that  State  have  for  their  homes? 

The  second  was  the  absolute  absence  of  any  death  from  inter- 
mittent fever  or  any  analogous  disease. 

Now  I  knew  wellthat  many  of  the  sick  died  from  this  and  kindred 
diseases  produced  by  the  miasma  of  the  stagnant  lake  in  our 
camp;  but  the  reports,  which  I  consolidated  every  morning,  con- 
tained no  reference  to  them.  I  inquired  at  the  dispensary,  where 
the  reports  were  first  handed  in,  tlio  cause  of  this  anomaly,  and 
learned  that  Dr.  Sanger  would  sign  no  report  which  ascribed  to  any  of 
these  diseases  the  death  of  the  patient!  I  concluded  that  he  must  have 
committed  himself  to  the  harmlessness  of  the  lagoon  in  question, 


Treatment  of  Prisoners  During  the  War.  269 

and  determined  to  preserve  his  consistency  at  the  expense  of  our 
lives — very  much  after  tlie  fashion  of  that  illustrious  ornament  of 
the  profession,  Dr.  Sangrado,  who  continued  his  warm  water  and 
phlebotomy  merely  because  he  had  written  a  book  in  praise  of 
that  i^ractice,  although  "  in  six  weeks  he  made  more  widows  and 
orphans  than  the  siege  of  Troy." 

I  could  hardly  help  visiting  on  Dr.  Sanger  the  reproaches  his 
predecessor  received  at  the  hands  of  the  persecuted  people  of  Val- 
ladolid,  who  "were  sometimes  very  brutal  in  their  grief,"  and  called 
the  doctor  and  Gil  Bias  no  more  euphonious  name  than  "ignorant 
assassins." 

Any  post  in  the  medical  department  in  a  Yankee  prison-camp  is 
quite  valuable  on  account  of  the  opportunities  of  ])1  under  it  affords, 
and  many  of  the  virtuous  "meds"  made  extensive  use  of  their  ad- 
vantages. Vast  quantities  of  quinine  were  prescribed  that  were 
never  taken,  the  price  (eight  dollars  an  ounce)  tempting  the  cupidity 
of  the  physicians  beyond  all  resistance;  but  the  grand  speculation 
was  in  whiskey,  which  was  supplied  to  the  dispensary  in  large 
quantities,  and  could  be  obtained  for  a  consideration  in  any  reason- 
able amount  from  a  "steward"  who  pervaded  that  establishment. 

I  ought  not  to  dismiss  this  portion  of  my  description  of  matters 
medical  without  adding  that  the  better  class  of  officers  in  the  pen 
were  loud  and  indignant  in  their  reproaches  of  Sanger's  systematic 
inhumanity  to  the  sick,  and  that  they  affirmed  that  he  avowed  his 
determination  to  stint  these  poor  helpless  creatures  in  retaliation 
for  alleged  neglect  on  the  part  of  our  authorities !  And  when  at 
last,  on  the  21st  of  September,  I  carried  my  report  up  to  the  major's 
tentj.Avith  the  ghastly  record  of  tavexty-nine  deaths  yesterday, 
the  storm  gathered,  which  in  a  few  weeks  drove  him  from  the  pen, 
but  which  never  would  have  had  that  effect  if  he  had  not,  by  his 
rudeness,  attained  the  ill-will  of  nearly  every  officer  about  the  pen 
whose  good-will  was  worth  having. 

I  ascend  from  pills  to  provender. 

The  commissary  department  was  under  the  charge  of  a  cute, 
active  ex-bank  officer,  Captain.G.  C.  Whiton.  The  ration  of  bread 
was  usually  a  full  pound  'per  diem,  forty-five  bi;rrels  of  flour  being 
converted  daily  into  loaves  in  the  bake-shop  on  the  premises.  The 
meat-ration,  on  the  other  hand,  was  invariably  scanty;  and  I 
learned,  on  inquiry,  that  the  fresh  beef  sent  to  the  prison  usually 
fell  short  from  one  thousand  to  twelve  hundred  pounds  in  each 
consignment.  Of  course  when  this  happened  many  had  to  lose  a 
large  portion  of  their  allowance;  and  sometimes  it  happened  that 
the  same  man  got  bones  only  for  several  successive  days.  The  ex- 
pedients resorted  to  by  the  men  to  supply  this  want  of  animal  food 
were  disgusting.  Many  found  an  acceptable  substitute  in  rats,  with 
which  the  place  abounded ;  and  these  Chinese  delicacies  commanded 
an  average  price  of  about  four  cents  apiece — in  greenbacks.  I  have 
seen  scores  of  them  in  various  states  of  preparation,  and  have  been 
assured  by  those  who  indulged  in  them  that  worse  things  have  been 
I  eaten — an  estimate  of  their  value  that  I  took  on  trust. 


270  Southern  Historical  Society  Papers. 

Others  found  in  the  barrels  of  refuse  fat,  which  were  accumulated 
at  the  cook-house,  and  in  the  pickings  of  the  bones,  which  were 
cut  out  of  the  meat  and  tlirown  out  in  a  dirty  heap  back  of  tha 
kitchen,  to  be  removed  once  a  week,  the  means  of  satisfying  the 
craving  for  meat,  which  rations  would  not  satisfy.  I  have  seen  a 
mob  of  hungry  "rebs"  besiege  the  bone-cart,  and  beg  from  the 
driver  fragments  on  which  an  August  sun  had  been  burning  for 
several  days,  until  the  impenetrable  nose  of  a  Congo  could  hardly 
have  endured  them. 

Twice  a  day  the  camp  poured  its  thousands  into  the  mess-rooms, 
where  each  man's  ration  was  assigned  him ;  and  twice  a  day  the 
aforesaid  rations  were  characterized  by  disappointed  "rebs"  in 
language  not  to  be  found  in  a  prayer-book.  Those  whose  appetite 
was  stronger  than  their  apprehensions  frequently  contrived  to  sup- 
ply their  wants  by  "flanking" — a  performance  which  consisted  in 
joining  two  or  more  companies  as  they  successively  went  to  the 
mess-rooms,  or  in  quietly  sweeping  up  a  ration  as  the  company  filed 
down  the  table.  As  every  ration  so  flanked  was,  however,  obtained 
at  the  expense  of  some  helpless  fellow-prisoner,  who  must  lose  that 
meal,  the  practice  was  almost  universally  frowned  upon;  and  the 
criminal,  when  discovered,  as  was  frequently  the  case,  was  subjected 
to  instant  punishment. 

This  was  either  confinement  in  the  guard^house,  solitary  confine- 
ment on  bread  and  water,  the  "  sweat-box  "  or  the  barrel-shirt.  The 
war  has  made  all  these  terms  familiar,  except  the  third,  perhaps; 
by  it  I  mean  a  wooden  box,  about  seven  feet  high,  twenty  inches  ' 
wide  and  twelve  deep,  which  was  placed  on  end  in  front  of  the 
major's  tent.  Few  could  stand  in  this  without  elevating*  the 
shoulders  considerably;  and  when  the  door  was  fastened  all  motion 
was  out  of  the  question.  The  prisoner  had  to  stand  with  his  limbs 
rigid  and  immovable  until  the  jailer  opened  the  door,  and  it  was 
far  the  most  dreaded  of  the  %)emes  fortes  et  dures  of  the  pen.  In 
midsummer,  I  can  fancy  that  a  couple  of  hours  in  such  a  coffin 
would  inspire  Tartuffe  himself  with  virtuous  thoughts,  especially 
if  his  avoirdupois  was  at  all  respectaible. 

Rev.  Dr.  I.  W.  K.  Handy,  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  Virginia, 
who  was  arrested  on  an  utterly  frivilous  charge  and  made  a  prisoner 
at  Fort  Delaware,  and  whose  evangelical  labors  among  the 
prisoners  were  so  greatly  blessed,  has  published  a  volume  of  670 
pages,  entitled  "United  States  Bonds,"  in  which  he  gives  a  vivid 
account  of  the  indignities,  cruelties  and  sufferings  to  which  the 
prisoners  there  were  subjected.  We  regret  that  we  have  only  space 
for  a  brief  extract.  Under  date  of  November  the  6th,  1863,  Dr. 
Handy  thus  writes  in  his  diary : 

A  letter  is  found  in  the  Philadelphia  Inquirer  of  to-day,  giving  a 
terrible  account  of  the  sufferings  of  the  Yankee  prisoners  at  Rich- 


Treatment  of  Prisoners  During  the  War.  271 

mond.  The  statement  is,  palpably,  exaggerated  and  highly  colored, 
and  bears  the  impress  of  prejudice  and  great  effort  for  effect.  Al- 
most every  illustration  adduced  in  the  article  will  apply  to  Fort 
Delaware,  and  to  these  may  be  added  instances  of  individual  cruelty 
and  oppression,  which  would  put  to  shame  the  unscrupulous  state- 
ments of  this  writer,  who  claims  to  have  been  a  Federal  chaplain. 

It  has  not  been  uncommon  here  for  our  half-clothed,  half- fed 
Confederates  at  the  barracks  to  be  ordered  about  in  the  coarsest  and 
roughest  manner  by  their  inferiors,  and  to  be  knocked  on  the  head 
with  sticks,  or  to  be  stuck  with  bayonets,  for  the  slightest  offences; 
and,  sometimes  (for  no  crime  whatever),  men  have  been  shot  at  or 
cruelly  murdered  by  sentinels,  who  bore  malice,  and  justified  them- 
selves upon  the  plea  that  they  were  trying  to  prevent  escapes.  Sick 
men  have  been  kept  at  the  barracks  until  perfectly  emaciated  from 
diarrhoea,  without  the  necessary  sick  vessels,  and  have  been  obliged 
to  stagger,  through  the  quarters,  to  the  out-house  on  the  bank  of 
the  river,  with  filth  streaming  upon  their  legs;  and  then,  unable  to 
help  themselves,  they  have  fallen  upon  the  pathway,  and  have  been 
found  dead  in  the  morning — victims  of  cruel  neglect.  Barefooted, 
bareheaded  and  ragged  men,  tottering  with  disease,  have  been  left 
to  suffer  long  for  the  necessary  clothing  or  medicines,  which  might 
have  been  abundantly  supplied;  men  scarcely  convalescent  have 
been  made  to  walk  from  one  end  of  the  Island  to  the  other  in  chang- 
ing hospitals,  thus  bringing  on  a  relapse  in  almost  every  case,  and 
have  died  in  a  few  days  thereafter.  Physicians,  in  contract  service, 
have  gone  daily  into  the  hospitals,  saturated  with  liquor,  and  with- 
out looking  at  the  tongue  or  feeling  the  pulse,  have  tantalized  the 
poor  sufferers  with  the  prescription,  "Oh,  you  must  eat!  You  must 
eat!"  and  without  either  furnishing  them  with  medicine  or  meat, 
have  left  them  to  die.  Sick  men,  on  entering  the  hospitals,  have 
been  denuded  of  their  clothing,  and  when  getting  a  little  better, 
have  been  forced  to  walk  over  damp  floors  in  their  stocking-feet 
and  drawers  to  the  water  closet,  at  a  remote  end  of  the  building — 
thus  exposing  themselves  to  cold  and  the  danger  of  a  relapse.  Men 
have  been  dismissed  from  the  hospitals  to  go  to  Point  Lookout 
without  hat,  shoes  or  blanket;  hundreds  have  been  exposed  to  the . 
danger  of  contracting  the  small-pox  from  coffins  filled  with  loath- 
some bodies,  left  for  hours  together  on  the  wharf,  whilst  prisoners 
have  been  embarking  for  exchange;  the  dispensary  has  remained 
not  only  for  days,  but  for  weeks  together,  without  some  of 
the  most  important  and  common  medicines ;  prisoners  have  been 
"bucked  and  gagged"  for  the  most  trivial  offences;  and  the  very 
dead  have  been  robbed  of  their  last  shirts,  placed  in  rough  coffins, 
perfectly  naked,  and  then  hurried  into  shallow,  unmarked  graves. 

Much  of  all  this  cruelty  and  inhumanity  may  not  have  been  de- 
signed by  those  highest  in  authority,  and  had  they  known  it,  might 
not  have  received  their  sanction,  but  it  has  occurred  under  their 
administration,  and  they  are,  to  a  greater  or  less  extent,  accountable 
for  it  all.     Were  full  details  given  in  relation  to  these  matters,  they 


272  Southern  Historical  Society  Papers. 

would  be  astounding  and  perhaps  incredible.  In  this  place  they 
are  referred  to  with  no  disposition  to  exaggerate,  nor  to  prejudice. 
Some  of  them  could  not,  perhaps,  have  been  well  avoided,  but  are 
recorded  simply  as  an  offset  to  the  "  Chaplain's  "  details. 

The  murder  of  Colonel  E.  P.  Jones  by  a  sentinel  is  thus  described 
by  Dr.  Hardy  in  his  (Mary,  under  date  of  July  3d,  1864; 

A  lamentable  affair  occured  at  "the  rear,"  about  dusk,  this  even- 
ing. Many  persons  are  now  suffering  with  diarrhoea,  and  crowds 
are  frequenting  that  neighborhood.  The  orders  are  to  go  by  one 
path  and  return  by  the  other.  Two  lines  of  men,  going  and 
coming,  are  in  continual  movement.  I  was  returning  from  the  fre- 
quented spot  and,  in  much  Aveakness,  making  my  way  back,  when, 
suddenly,  I  heard  the  sentinel  challenge  from  the  top  of  the  water- 
house.  I  had  no  idea  he  Avas  sj^eaking  to  me,  until  some  friends 
called  my  attention  to  the  order.  I  suppose  my  pace  Avas  too  slow 
for  him.  I  passed  on;  and  as  frequent  inquiries  Avere  made  in  re- 
gard to  my  health,  I  was  obliged  to  say  to  friends,  "  we  have  no 
time  to  talk ;  the  sentinel  is  evidently  restless  or  alarmed,  and  we 
are  in  danger." 

I  had  scarcely  reached  my  quarters,  before  a  musket  fired ;  and 
it  was,  immediately,  reported  that  Colonel  E.  P.  Jones  had  been 
shot. 

The  murder  of  Colonel  Jones  is  the  meanest,  and  most  inex- 
cusable affair  that  has  occurred  in  the  officers'  quarters ;  or  that 
has  come  under  my  own  observation  since  my  imprisonment  at 
Fort  DelaAvare.  I  did  not  see  him  fall ;  but  have  learned  from 
Captain  J.  B.  Cole,  Avho  Avas  an  eye-witness  to  the  Avhole  scene,  that 
although  he  Avas  standing  AA'ithin  ten  steps  of  the  man  that  killed 
him,  he  heard  no  challenge,  nor  any  order  to  mo\^e  on.  The  first 
intimation  he  had  of  the  sentinel's  displeasure  Avas  the  discharge 
of  the  musket,  and  the  simultaneous  exclamation  of  the  Colonel — 
"Oh,  God!  Oh,  God!  My  God,  what  did  you  shoot  me  for?  Why 
didn't  you  tell  me  to  go  on?  I  never  heard  you  say  anything  to 
me ! " — and  Avith  a  few  such  exclamations,  he  sank  upon  the  ground ; 
and  then  fell,  or  rather  rolled,  doAvn  the  embankment. 

Colonel  Jones  has  been  in  the  barracks  so  short  a  time,  that  I 
have  not  had  the  pleasure  of  making  his  acquaintance.  I  have 
only  learned  that  he  is  an  intelligent  physician,  of  considerable 
property  and  influence,  and  that  he  is  from  Middlesex  county, 
Virginia.  Since  he  came  to  Fort  DelaAvare,  he  has  been,  constantly, 
suffering  with  some  affection  of  the  feet,  causing  lameness. 

At  the  time  he  was  shot,  he  was  hobbling  along,  AAdth  one  shoe, 
and  Avas  carefully  stepping  doAvn  a  rough  place,  near  the  water- 
house,  buttoning  his  pants.  He  could  not  have  been  more  than 
twenty  steps  from  the  point  of  the  musket.  It  is  said  that  the 
murderer  seemed,  all  day,  to  be  seeking  an  opportunity  to  shoot 
some  one.  It  is  also  rejiorted  that  Captain  Ahl  Avas  seen  on  the 
top  of  the  shanty,  giving  some  orders,  only  a  few  moments  before 


Treatment  of  Prisoners  During  the  War,  273 

the  catastrophe.  These  are  all  the  facts  that  I  can  learn,  concern- 
ing this  melancholy  affair,  except  that  Colonel  Jones  has  been  taken 
to  the  hospital,  and  that  there  is  no  prospect  of  his  recovery. 

Friday,  8th. — The  boy  who  shot  Colonel  Jones  is  again  on  guard, 
this  morning;  and  it  is  reported  that  he  has  been  promoted  to  a 
corporalcy.  He  belongs,  I  think,  to  an  Ohio  regiment,  is  about 
eighteen  years  old,  and  is  known  as  "Bill  Douglas." 

Unusual  watchfulness  prevailed  during  the  night.  New  sentinels 
were  on  guard,  in  every  direction.  A  noisy  fellow  tramped  under 
my  window  until  daylight.  Guards  have  been  posted  inside  of 
"the  pen,"  and  everything  indicates  apprehension,  on  the  part  of 
the  Yankees,  and  danger  to  the  prisoners. 

General  Schoei^f  visited  "the  pen,"  accompanied  by  Caj)tain  Ahl, 
and  other  officers.  They  were  evidently  excited,  and  moved 
quickly  from  j^lace  to  place.  Some  of  the  officers  were  anxious  to 
have  an  interview,  and  pressed  upon  them  for  a  word.  I  succeed- 
ed in  halting  the  General,  and  spoke  to  him  myself,  about  the  reck- 
lessness of  the  sentinels,  and  the  great  danger  to  which  I  was 
personally  exposed  just  before  the  shooting  last  night.  He  referred 
to  the  repeated  attemjots  which  had,  lately,  been  made  to  effect 
escape;  spoke  decidedly  of  his  purpose  to  put  a  stop  to  the  whole 
thing;  and  excused  the  guards.  "They  shoot  down  any  man, "said 
he,  "who  tries  to  get  away." 

Captain  Ahl  averred  that  Colonel  Jones  had  been  challenged ; 
and  justified  the  sentinel.  Several  bystanders  insisted,  that  he  was 
quietly  returning  from  "  the  rear,"  and  that  there  was  no  cause  for 
the  murder.  Ahl  affirmed  that  he  was  near  by  when  the  shooting 
took  place,  and  that  he  had  ordered  the  sentinel  to  fire  at  the  first 
man  that  stopped  on  the  thoroughfare. 

I  appealed  to  General  Schoepf,  to  hear  a  statement  of  the  case  ; 
and  told  him  that  I  had  always  suj^posed  him  to  be  a  humane 
officer,  and  disposed  to  do  what  was  right.  He  was  evidently 
embarrassed  by  the  presence  of  Ahl;  and  nervously  moved  off 
towards  the  gate,  followed  by  his  attendants.  He  was  there  sur- 
rounded by  another  company  of  prisoners,  who  tried  to  get  an  au- 
dience. He  refused  to  hear  them ;  and  referred  them  to  "  Dr.  Handy," 
urging  as  he  went  out — "He  knows  I  want  to  do  right." 

Colonel  Jones  lingered  a  few  hours,  and  died  in  great  agony.  * 
Dr.  Handy  has  kindly  placed  in  our  hands  his  private  letter-book 
'  containing  a  large  number  of  statements  of  prison  experience  by 
his  fellow-prisoners.    We  can  only  extract  one  of  these. 

STATEMENT   OP   EEV.  GEORGE   HARRIS,  OF   UPPERVILLE,  VIRGINIA. 

On  the  morning  of  the  30th  of  August  our  quiet  village  was 
thrown  into  excitement  by  a  report  of  the  approach  of  Yankees. 
From  the  fact  that  private  citizens  had  recently  been  arrested  and 
carried  from  their  homes  by  raiding  parties,  nearly  every  male 
inhabitant  of  the  village  felt  it  to  be  unsafe  to  remain  at  home; 
3 


274  Southern  Historical  Society  Papers. 

and  I  have  reason  to  believe  that  I  was  the  only  man  left  in  town 
upon  their  arrival.  I  relied  upon  my  sacred  calling  for  security 
from  molestation,  and  as  usual  awaited  in  my  own  house  their 
coming.  Shortly  after  their  arrival,  I  observed  a  man  coming 
around  my  house  to  the  hack  door,  as  though  ashamed  to  approach 
by  the  front  entrance,  and  according  to  my  usual  custom,  I  ad- 
vanced to  meet  him  and  learn  his  business,  when  the  following 
conversation  ensued : 

Yankee.  Are  you  the  man  of  this  house? 

Answer.  I  am. 

Yankee.  What's  yer  name  ?  ' 

Answer.  My  name  is  Harris;  what  is  yours? 

Yankee.  My  name?     Why  my  name  is . 

Then  looking  around,  he  espied  some  of  the  servants  in  the 
kitchen,  a  detached  building,  and  awkwardly  moved  ofi'  to  see 
them.  I  returned  to  my  seat  at  my  secretary  and  resumed  my 
occupation  of  reading.  In  a  few  minutes  he  returned,  and  leaning 
against  the  lintel  of  the  door,  said:  "Guess  you  can  go  with  me." 
"Go  with  you,"  said  I;  "Where  shall  I  go  with  you?"  "Up  to 
headquarters."  I  arose,  took  my  cane,  and  walked  about  a  quarter 
of  a  mile  to  the  main  body  of  the  command.  The  first  officer  with 
whom  I  met  was  a  brainless,  conceited  Lieutenant,  whose  name  I 
never  learned.  He,  without  any  kind  of  salutation,  accosted  me 
in  a  manner  meant  to  be  extremely  scornful,  and  asked  why  I  had 
not  sent  Mosby  word  they  were  coming  and  wanted  to  meet  him. 
I  said  to  him,  "Sir,  if  you  really  wished  to  see  Mosby,  and  desired 
me  to  notify  him  of  your  coming,  why  did  you  not  inform  me  of 
the  fact  in  time?"  "Do  you  think  he  would  have  come?"  he 
queried.  "It  is  extremely  probable  he  would,"  I  replied.  He 
ordered  me  then  to  be  conducted  to  the  Major.  I  was  taken  up  to 
his  quarters,  and  there  learned  that  the  Eighth  Illinois  Cavalry, 
commanded  by  Major  Waite,  a  little  dapper  newspaper  corres- 
pondent formerly,  as  I  have  learned,  were  my  captors.  I  demanded 
of  this  man  the  cause  of  my  arrest.  He  replied  that  he  was  carry- 
ing out  his  instructions.  I  asked  if  I  might  know  what  those  in- 
structions were.  He  said,  to  arrest  all  men  between  seventeen  and 
fifty.  I  reminded  him  that  I  was  a  minister  of  the  gospel,  and 
not  subject  to  military  duty.  He  replied,  that  if  upon  my  arrival 
in 'Washington  that  fact  should  appear,  I  would  be  released.  He 
•ordered  me  to  be  taken  to  a  Captain  Townsend,  who  had  charge  of  f 
the  prisoners.  I  declared  my  purpose  to  return  home  for  a  change 
of  underclothing  before  I  would  consent  to  go,  and  he  might  use 
his  pleasure  either  to  take  my  pledge  to  return,  or  to  send  a  man 
with  me  as  a  guard.  Yankee-like,  he  preferred  the  latter  alternative,  " 
as,  having  no  such  regard  for  his  own  word  as  to  prefer  faithfulness  ' 
to  a  pledge  to  life  itself,  he  could  not  believe  it  to  be  a  trait  in  the  f 
character  of  any  other. 

I  was  obliged  to  make  my  few  preparations  in  the  most  hurried 
manner,  and  having  commended  my  family  to  God,  I  proceeded 


Treatment  of  Prisoners  During  the  War.  275 

to  report  myself  to  my  captors  again.  I  found  on  my  return  that 
a  large  number  of  citizens  had  been  picked  up,  among  the  rest, 
General  Asa  Rogers,  a  gentleman  over  sixty  years  of  age,  and  Rev. 
0.  A.  Kinsolving,  of  the  Episcopal  church.  We  were  inoved  off,  I 
suppose,  about  2  P.  M.,  and  proceeded  to  Aldie,  about  thirteen 
miles.  Here  we  halted,  and  immediately  the  men  scattered  to 
plunder,  and  every  hen-roost  in  the  village  was  despoiled  in  a  few 
minutes.  Women  and  children  were  running  through  the  streets, 
some  screaming,  all  looking  for  officers  to  protect  them.  Of  the 
nature  and  extent  of  their  depredations  we  could  only  judge  by 
the  declarations  of  such  as  passed  us;  all  were  crying  that  they 
were  being  robbed  of  everything  they  had.  After  remaining  here 
long  enough  to  sack  the  village  completely,  they  hurried  us  on  to 
Mt.  Zion  Meeting  House,  five  miles  below  Aldie,  where  we  bivou- 
acked on  the  ground,  without  blankets,  and  only  a  few  hard  crack- 
ers— all  any  of  us  had  had  since  morning — for  supper.  The 
following  morning  they  issued  to  us  more  of  the  "  hard-tack,"  as 
they  termed  it,  and  some  salt  pork,  which  we  broiled  by  sticking 
it  upon  the  ends  of  twigs  and  holding  in  the  blaze  of  the  fire. 

As  soon  as  breakfast  was  over  we  were  once  more  on  the  road, 

and  at  a  most  rapid  pace.     Proceeding  nearly  to  Drainesville,  the 

I  rear  of  the  column  was  fired  upon,  when  our  gallant  Major,  dread- 

^  ing  an  ambuscade,  tacked  nearly  right  about,  and  at  an  increased 

speed  proceeded  nearly  to  Fairfax  Courthouse,  and  then  turning 

,  again  toward  the  Potomac,  carried  us  on  to  Falls  Church,  halting 

jonly  about  an  hour  in  a  very  strong  position  to  feed  their  horses. 

jThus  these  gallant  fellows  who,  about  700  strong,  had  started  out, 

as  they  said,  expressly  to  catch  Mosby,  succeeded   in   capturing 

jthirty-two  citizens^  in  stealing  some  twenty-five  horses,  robbing  pri- 

/  vate  citizens  along  the  whole  line  of  their  march  of  all  kinds  of 

/  supplies,  and  through  fear  of  an  attack  made,  on  their  return,  a 

march  of  not  less  than  forty-five  or  fifty  miles  in  one  day.     On  the 

morning  of  September  1st,  Major  Waite  took  occasion  to  insult  us 

by  his  profane  language  and  vain  boasting  of  what  he  had  done 

and  was  yet  to  do.     His  pickets  being  fired  on,  however,  the  camp 

was  thrown  into  the  utmost  commotion,  and  we  were  hurried  off 

again  toward  Washington. 

Owing  to  various  delays,  we  were  not  brought  to  Washington 
until  afternoon.  Near  the  city  we  were  turned  over  .to  Captain 
Berry  and  Lieutenant  Trask,  who  treated  us  with  the  utmost  polite- 
ness, and  seemed  desirous  to  do  all  in  their  power  to  oblige  us  and 
render  us  comfortable.  On  arriving  in  the  city  we  were  remanded 
to  the  Old  Capitol  Prison,  and  paraded  through  the  streets  to  show 
to  the  good  and  loyal  citizens  of  the  capital  of  "the  greatest  nation 
on  earth,"  that  the  "good  work  was  going  bravely  on."  At  the  Old 
Capitol  our  fare  was  horrible  for  several  days;  the  meat  given  us 
was  putrid,  and  few  of  us  could  eat  our  bread  with  the  meat  before 
us.  A  change  for  the  better,  however,  took  place  pretty  soon  after 
we  had  an  interview  with  the  superintendent,  and  the  fare  became 


276  Southern  Historical  Society  Pampers. 

pretty  palatable.  We  were  shown  many  indulgencies,  too,  until  it 
was  ascertained  that  the  most  of  us  would  not  even  take  a  parole 
such  as  they  were  administering  to  many  citizen  prisoners ;  when 
suddenly  we  were  informed  that  we  were  to  be  sent  off  to  Fort 
Delaware,  to  be  subjected  at  that  abode  of  horrors  to  severe  treat- 
ment in  retaliation' for  treatment  of  a  similar  character  alleged  to 
have  been  extended  to  citizens  of  the  North  in  Southern  prisons. 
And  here  we  are,  exposed  in  a  degree  that  threatens  seriously  our 
health  if  not  the  lives  of  some  of  our  party.  But  "hitherto  hath 
the  Lord  helped  us,"  and  in  Him  is  our  trust;  we  will  not  fear  what 
man  can  do  unto  us. 

Mr.  Harris,  one  the  most  devoted  and  useful  ministers  in  Vir- 
ginia," contracted  disease  at  Fort  Delaware,  from  which  he  was  a 
great'  sufferer  until,  a  few  years  after  the  war,  death  came  to  "set 
the  prisoner  free." 

The  following  deposition  of  Mr.  T.  D.  Henry  was  originally 
written  at  Oak  Grove,  Kentucky,  in  1866,  and  was  sent  to  us  a  few 
weeks  ago : 

DEPOSITION   OF   T.    D.    HEXKY. 

Seeincr  that  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  has  appointed  a 
committee  to  investigate  the  treatment  of •  Federal  prisoners  in 
Southern  prisons,  I  have  determined,  in  my  feeble  manner,  to  give 
an  account  of  what  I  saw  and  know  to  be  true,  as  happening  in 
Federal  prisons.  I  was  captured  with  General  Morgan  at  Salen- 
ville  Ohio  July  26th,  1863.  After  capture  was  carried  to  Camp 
Chase  Ohio  where  I  remained  about  one  month.  I  was  then,  to- 
crether  with  all  the  prisoners  at  that  place,  carried  to  Camp  Douglas,  II- 
Hnois  Prison  life  from  September  1863,  until  the  12th  ot  April 
1864  was  comparatively  such  as  a  man  who,  according  to  the  fates 
of  w'ar  had  been  captured  might  expect,  especially  when  a  captive 
of  a  boasted  Christian  nation.  Rations  were  of  very  good  quality 
and  quantity,  the  only  thing  unpleasant  w.as  the  various  and  severe 
nunishments  which  the  commandant  of  the  camp  (Colonel  C.  V. 
Deland)  saw  fit  to  inflict.  If  you  bribed  one  of  his  guards  or  es- 
caned  by  any  other  means,  and  was  afterwards  recaptured  and 
brouo-ht  back,  he  would  liave  you  tied  up  by  the  thumbs  .lUst  so  as 
the  tSe  would  reach  the  ground.  I  have  known  men  punished  thus 
until  they  would  grow  so  deathly  sick  that  they  would  vomit  all 
over  themselves,  their  heads  fall  forward  and  almost  every  sign  of  life 
become  extinct ;  the  ends  of  their  thumbs  would  burst  open ;  a  surgeon 
Standing  by  would  feel  their  pulse  and  say  he  thought  they  could 
stand  it  a  little  longer.  Sometimes  he  would  say  they  had  better 
be  cut  down.  If  this  failed  to  cause  them  to  tell  ^yho  assisted 
them  in  escaping,  they  were  then  thrown  into  an  iron-clad  dungeon 
ten  bv  ten  square,  with  a  single  window  ten  inches  by  ten.  IhmJc 
of  a  man  staying  in  this  place  forty  or  fifty  days,  when  it  was  as 
full  as  it  could  be,  their  only  privy  being  a  little  hole  m  tlie  floor, 


Treatment  of  Prisoners  During  the  War.  277 

from  which  all  the  odor  arose  in  the  room.  When  this  failed  a 
sixty-four  pound  ball  and  chain  was  placed  upon  their  leg,  with 
chain  so  short  as  to  compel  its  wearer  to  carry  the  ball  in  their 
hand,  or  get  some  one  to  pull  it  in  a  little  wagon  while  they  walked  at 
the  side,  the  chain  about  twenty-eight  inches  in  length.  Some  of  the 
balls  were  worn  more  than  six  months.  A  great  many  escaped  by 
tunneling.  On  one  occasion  a  tunnel  was  discovered  under  the  barrack 
occupied  by  (Cluke's  regiment)  the  eighth  Kentucky  cavalry.  With- 
out trying  to  find  out  who  dug  the  tunnel,  the  whole  regiment  was 
formed  in  column  of  eight  deep,  and  a  guard  placed  around  them  with 
instructions  to  shoot  the  first  man  who  sat  down  ;  this  was  just  after 
sun  up ;  at  two  o'clock  a  man  who  had  just  returned  the  day  before 
from  the  small-pox  hospital,  unable  to  stand  longer  fell ;  a  guard 
saw  him  and  fired ;  one  man  was  killed  dead,  two  others  were 
wounded,  one  of  them  losing  an  arm,  as  it  was  afterwards  cut  off. 
This  same  fellow,  who  did  the  shooting,  was  promoted  to  a  corporal's 
position,  whether  for  this  act  or  not,  it  is  impossible  to  say,  for  he 
affirmed  that  he  would  not  take  $100  for  his  gun,  as  that  was  the 
eleventh  prisoner  he  had  shot  with  it.  This  shooting  was  carried 
to  such  an  extent  that  if  a  man  in  going  from  his  barrack  to  the 
privy  should  stop  at  night  he  was  shot  at.  If  more  than  five  were 
seen  together  in  the  day,:^or  if  two  at  night,  the  same  thing  occurred. 
If  any  one  was  heard  to  whisper  at  night,  or  the  least  ray  of  light 
was  seen,  the  guard  would  fire  into  the  barracks  at  once.  In  each 
barrack  there  was  only  two  stoves  to  two  hundred  men,  and  for  a 
stove  to  warm  one  hundred  men,  it  was  frequently  red  hot.  When 
taps  were  sounded  {i.  e.  "lights  out")  the  fire  in  the  stoves  could 
not  be  put  out  immediately.  The  boys  were  afraid  to  go  to  the 
stove,  for  some  one  was  nightly  killed  in  the  attempt  to  extinguish 
the  light.  A  ball  fired  from  a  gun  which  would  ordinarily  shoot 
a  thousand  yards,  would,  when  fired  at  a  close  object,  go  through 
three  or  four  barracks,  sometimes  flattening  itself  against  the  bar- 
rack, more  often  burying  itself  in  the  vitals  of  some  sleeper,  who 
little  thought  that  that  was  to  be  his  last  sleep  on  this  earth.  On 
one  occasion  as  the  flag  which  floated  in  front  of  the  commandant's 
quarters  was  being  hoisted  the  rope  broke,  letting  the  flag  fall, 
which  being  seen  by  the  regiment  to  which  I  belonged  (second 
Kentucky  cavalry),  a  terrific  yell  was  given.  This  so  incensed  the 
Yankees  that  a  certain  valiant  Captain,  Gaffeny  by  name,  marched 
his  company,  some  eighty  strong,  up  to  our  barracks;  had  the 
regiment  formed  and  went  up  and  down  the  line  kicking  the  men, 
and  swearing  that  his  company,  about  eighty  strong,  could  whip  the 
Avhole  camp  of  about  five  thousand. 

About  this  time  Colonel  Deland  was  ordered  to  the  front.  He 
was  succeeded  by  Colonel  B.  J.  Sweet  as  commandant  of  camp, 
Colonel  Skinner  as  commissary  of  prisoners,  and  a  fiend  named 
Captain  Webb  Sponable  as  inspector  of  prisoners. 
I  From  this  time  forward  the  darkest  leaf  in  the  legends  of  all 
: tyranny  could  not  possibly  contain  a  greater  number  of  punish- 
'  ments. 


278  Southern  Historical  Society  Papers. 

Our  wliole  camp  was  rearranged ;  tlie  parapet  guard  were  ordered 
not  to  fire  unless  some  one  tried  to  escape ;  a  police  guard  was 
placed  in  the  prison  to  do  all  the  devilment  which  the  infernally 
fertile  mind  of  Captain  Sponable  could  invent;  starvation  was 
carried  on  quite  systematically.  Our  rations  for  breakfast  consisted 
of  five  ounces  of  bread  and  six  ounces  of  fresh  beef.  As  the  rations 
for  two  hundred  men  were  boiled  in  a  sixty-gallon  kettle,  it  was 
necessary  in  order  to  cook  it  done,  to  boil  it  to  shreds.  In  fact  there 
was  no  more  nutritious  matter  in  it  than  in  an  old  dish  cloth ,  for 
dinner  one  pint  bean  soup  and  five  ounces  of  bread,  this  was  our 
living.  This  was  not  regularly  issued,  for  the  slightest  offence 
would  cause  the  captain's  direful  anger  to  be  aroused,  and  as  he 
would  make  most  by  stopping  our  rations  this  was  quite  a  favorite 
punishment. 

His  mildest  punishment  was  to  get  a  scantling  two  inches  wide, 
shave  it  down  until  it  was  only  half  inch  thick  on  top  and  put  legs 
about  seventeen  feet  long  to  it.  (This  horse,  when  finished,  was 
called  Morgan).  Now,  for  the  slight  ofi'ence  of  looking  at  a  guard 
the  boys  have  been  placed  on  this  horse  for  hours,  their  feet  hanging 
down.  Sometimes  the  Yanks  would  laugh  and  aay,  I  will  give  you 
a  pair  of  spurs,  which  was  a  bucket  of  sand  tied  to  each  foot;  also 
to  set  the  boys  astraddle  the  roof  of  a  dog  house.  I  have  seen  men 
who  had  been  left  in  this  condition  until  the  skin  and  flesh  was 
cut  nearly  to  the  bone.  Men  in  the  winter  Avould  get  so  cold  that 
they  would  fall  off".  When  warmed  they  were  put  back.  Another 
slight  punishment  was  to  saw  a  barrel  in  two,  cut  a  hole  in  one 
end  so  as  to  allow  a  man's  head  to  go  through,  but  leave  the  barrel 
around  his  shoulders,  then  march  him  in  the  sun  until  the  rays 
reflected  from  the  barrel  would  swell  his  head  almost  twice  its 
natural  size.  I  have  seen  men's  faces  peel  all  over  from  this  in- 
nocent amusement  of  the  guards. 

If  the  least  sign  of  water  or  spit  was  seen  on  the  floor  the  order 
was,  "Come, go  to  the  horse  or  point  for  grub,"  which  was  to  stand 
with  the  legs  perfectl}^  straight,  reach  over,  and  touch  the  ground 
with  the  fingers.  If  the  legs  were  bent  in  the  least,  a  guard  w^as 
present  with  a  paddle,  which  he  well  knew  how  to  use.  When  the 
guards  grew  weary  of  this  punishment,  anotlier  was  to  make  the 
men  pull  down  their  pants  and  sit,  with  nothing  under  them,  on 
the  snow  and  frozen  ground.  I  have  known  men  to  be  kept  sitting 
until  you  could  see  their  prints  for  some  days  afterwards  in  the 
snow  and  ice.  When  they  got  weary  of  this,  they  commenced 
whipping,  making  the  men  lay  on  a  barrel,  and  using  their  belts, 
which  had  a  leaden  clasp  with  sharp  edge,  the  belt  would  often 
gather  wind  so  as  to  turn  the  clasp  edgeways ;  every  lick  inflicted 
thus  cut  entirely  through  the  skin. 

If  more  than  five  men  Avere  seen  together,  or  if  anyone  was  heard 
to  whisper  or  spit  upon  the  floor,  it  was  certain  to  be  followed  by 
one  of  these  punishments.  Frequently  men  sick  in  barracks  were 
delirious ;  sometimes  one  or  two  in  a  barrack  were  crazy.     These 


Treatment  of  Prisoners  During  the  War.  279 

•were  the  cause  of  a  whole  barrack  of  men  being  mounted  on  a 
horse  or  punished  in  other  ways.  Sometimes  a  guard  would  come 
in,  and  swear  he  heard  some  one  whispering.  He  would  make 
four  or  five  men  get  up,  with  nothing  but  their  underclothes  to  pro- 
tect them  against  a  climate  where  the  thermometer  stood  twenty 
degrees  below  zero.  Shooting  about  this  time  was  less  frequent. 
The  fiends  were  satisfied  with  such  punishment  as  Avould  most 
likel}^  end  in  death.  At  this  period  we  were  reinforced  by  the 
prisoners  captured  in  front  of  Nashville.  They,  after  being  cooped 
up  in  the  cars  four  or  five  days,  were  nearly  dead  for  water.  The 
hydrants  were  frozen  up,  and  we  had  eaten  all  the  snow  inside  the 
prison.  The  poor  fellows  would  lay  down  at  or  as  close  to  the 
dead-line  as  possible,  and  reach  their  arm  through  and  pull  the 
snow  to  them.  I  saw  one  of  the  guards  standing  twenty-five  steps 
from  a  prisoner  thus  engaged  shoot  at  him  three  times.  Fortunately 
the  police  guards  were  armed  with  pistols;  had  it  been  a  rifle  the 
poor  fellow  must  have  died  the  first  shot. 

Think  of  a  man's  mind  being  racked  by  all  of  these  punishments, 
for  the  innocent  suffered  as  well  as  the  guilty,  and  as  frequently, 
when  no  one  was  to  blame,  were  all  punished;  and  it  is  almost  a 
miracle  that  anyone  should  have  remained  there  twenty  months 
without  losing  his  reason. 

T.  D.  Henry, 
Company  E,  Duke's  Regiment,  Second  Kentucky   Cavalry,  General  J. 
H.  Morgan's  command. 

Sworn  to  before  me  this  third  day  of  March,  1876. 

Will.  A.  Harms, 
Notary  Public  in  and  for  San  Bernardino  county,  State  of  California. 

The  following  statement  of  Major  Robert  Stiles  of  Richmond 
Virginia,  will  be  received  by  his  large  circle  of  friends  and  acquaint- 
ances as  the  testimony  of  a  gentleman  "without  fear  and  without 
rejDroach." 

STATEMENT    OF    MAJOR   ROBERT   STILES. 

I  was  a  prisoner  of  war  at  Johnson's  Island  and  Fort  Lafayette 
from  April  to  October,  1865,  having  been  captured  at  Sailor's  creek. 
During  this  time  I  did  not  suffer  seriously  to  my  own  person  from 
bad  treatment,  but  saw  and  heard  no  little  of  the  suffering  of 
others. 

The  Southern  field  officers  were  released  from  Johnson's  Island  in 
May  or  June,  but  I  was  held  a  prisoner  because  I  declined  to  take 
the  somewhat  remarkable  oath  propounded  to  us,  and  refused  to 
give  in  addition  my  word  of  honor  that  I  would  say  nothing 
against  the  Government  of  the  United  States. 

At  Johnson's  Island  all  the  formidable  nomenclature  and  enginery 
of  prison  discipline  were  in  vogue.  We  had  our  "  dead  line  "  within 
and  up  some  distance  from  the  tall  fence  which  formed  "  the  pen," 


280  Southern  Historical  Society  Papers. 

which  hne,  if  a  prisoner  crossed,  the  guard,  posted  on  a  plank  walk 
near  the  top  of  the  fence,  was  uiKier  orders  to  fire  upon  him.  We  had 
our  ^^ lights  ouV — after  which,  if,  for  any  cause,  a  lamp  or  fire  was 
lit,  the  guard  had  orders  to  fire  upon  the  offending  light.  These 
orders  were  sometimes  executed  with  fatal  result;  and  it  was  cur- 
rently reported  that  at  least  one  man  of  the  guard  had  been  pro- 
moted to  a  sergeantcy,  for  killing  a  wretched  prisoner  who,  unable  to 
endure  the  frightful  cold,  had  risen  to  kindle  a  fire.  We  had  our 
'■^ hlack-hole^^  in  which  "refractory"  prisoners  were  punished,  solitary, 
dark,  damp  and  cramped. 

At  this,  as  at  all  other  Federal  prisons,  the  rations  of  prisoners 
were  at  sundry  times  reduced  below  the  amount  confessedly  indis- 
pensable to  the  maintenance  of  a  man  in  full  health — in  retaliation 
as  was  alleged  for  the  starvation  of  Federal  prisoners  in  Confederate 
prisons.  During  my  stay  on  the  Island,  the  war  being  substantially 
over,  the  discipline  and  management  were  more  liberal,  and  the 
ration,  though  meagre,  larger  than  it  had  been;  the  sutler,  too, 
was  open,  and  the  few  prisoners  fortunate  enough  to  obtain  money 
lived  reasonally  well,  but  the  majority  still  suffered  from  lack  of 
food.  After  being  an  inmate  of  the  pen  for  a  few  days  and  observing 
the  really  pitiful  hunger  and  destitution,  I  organized  a  system  of 
collection  from  the  messes  who  had  money,  and  patronized  the  sut- 
ler and  distribution  among  the  less  favored  who  starved  on  the  prison 
ration.  I  fed  from  a  hundred  to  a  hundred  and  fifty  men  every 
day,  and  this  moment  can  well  recall  the  scene  at  the  daily  distri- 
bution. I  would  form  them  in  line,  count  them  oft'  in  squads  or 
messes  of  ten,  appointing  an  orderly  for  each  mess,  and  then 
separating  my  provisions,  consisting  of  scraps  more  or  less  frag- 
mentary, into  as  many  piles  as  there  were  orderlies,  deliver  one 
pile  to  each  orderly  for  distribution  among  his  mess.  After  this 
was  done  the  poor  fellows  would  break  ranks  and  scuffle  on  the 
bare  ground  under  the  table  for  the  crumbs.  These  men  were  all 
officers  of  the  Confederate  armies — most  of  them  field  officers. 

The  clothing  issued  to  our  prisoners  was  quite  as  scanty  as  the 
rations,  the  post  surgeon's  certificate,  that  it  was  absolutely  necessary 
in  each  individual  case,  being  required  to  entitle  a  man  to  an  over- 
coat— and  that  for  Southern  men  exiled  on  a  bleak  island  swej^tby 
chill  tempests,  with  the  thermometer  frequently  more  than  twenty 
degrees  below  zero.  In  order  to  get  one  of  these  certificates,  a  man 
was  required  to  stand  in  line  in  the  open  air  scantily  clad,  waiting 
his  time  to  enter  the  surgeon's  office  and  submit  to  an  examination 
to  test  the  condition  of  liis  lungs,  &c.  It  can  readily  be  imagined 
how  many  were  saved  from  pneumonia  and  consumption  by  this 
humane  distribution  of  overcoats.  It  is  well  known  that  the  sup- 
ply of  blankets  was  totally  inadequate  until  the  offer  of  our  Gov- 
erment  to  trade  cotton  for  clothing  for  our  prisoners  was  accepted. 
Of  course  I  did  not  personally  suffer  from  exposure  to  cold,  being 
on  the  Island  only  during  the  spring  and  summer  months,  but 
I  not  only  heard  of  these  scenes  and  regulations  from  many  men 


Treatment  of  Prisoners  During  the  War.  281 

who  had  wintered  on  this  desert  isle,  but  jnst  before  my  release,  I 
talked  with  a  gentleman  who  had  resigned  or  been  removed  from 
the  place  of  post  surgeon  because  of  his  repeated  but  fruitless 
protests  that  it  was  impossible  to  maintain  men  in  health  while 
half  fed  and  half  clad,  and  who  in  particular  had  attempted  to 
evade  the  barbarous  regulation  about  overcoats,  by  giving  out  cer- 
tificates, as  rapidly  as  he  could  write  or  sign  them,  that  the  bearer 
needed  an  overcoat  on  the  score  of  health. 

At  Fort  Lafayette  we  were  well  fed ;  but  I  have  never  been  able 
to  understand  by  what  rule  or  principle  of  civilized  warfare,  an 
honorable  prisoner  of  war  could  be  immured  for  weeks  in  a  stone 
casemate,  among  deserters,  and  prisoners  under  charges  for  viola- 
ting the  laws  of  war. 

It  gives  me  pleasure  to  state  that  I  experienced  great  kindness 
from  some  of  the  Federal  officers  during  my  imprisonment,  and 
especially  from  a  Major  Lee,  who  succeeded  Colonel  Hill  at  John- 
son's Island.  He  had  lost  an  arm  I  think  in  Gen.  Sickle's  corps  at 
Gettysburg.  The  surgeon  of  whose  humanity  mention  was  made 
above,  was  not  the  only  Federal  officer  who  during  my  brief  prison 
experience  protested  to  his  superiors  against  the  inhumanity  of  the 
prison  regimen. 

The  following  statement  can  be  vouched  for  as  strictly  accurate  : 
Rock  Island  Prison,  1864-5. 

By  Charles  Wright,  of  Tennessee. 

I  record  here  my  experience  in  Rock'  Island  Prison,  simply  as  a 
contribution  to  history.  For  the  truth  of  what  I  state,  in  some 
cases  I  refer  to  official  documents,  and  in  others  I  refer  to  thousands 
of  witnesses  yet  living. 

The  treatment  of  prisoners  in  Northern  prisons  is  a  subject  that 
has  received  little  attention  from  the  press,  and  consequently  is 
little  understood.  The  charges  of  cruelty  to  prisoners,  made  with 
such  confidence  against  the  South,  on  a  recent  occasion,  for  the 
purpose  of  political  aggrandizement,  and  which  recalls  the  old 
story  of  "  Stop  thief,"  where  the  thief  bawled  the  loudest,  makes 
it  necessary  in  common  justice  to  ventilate  the  Northern  prisons. 
This  could  not  have  been  done  within  the  past  eleven  years  for 
obvious  reasons. 

The  Federal  soldier  returning  home  to  a  land  of  plenty,  his 
necessities  anticipated  by  benevolent  associations,  his  spirits  cheered 
by  the  sympathy  of  a  grateful  people,  and  his  services  rewarded 
with  bounties  and  pensions  by  a  generous  Government,  found 
leisure  and  encouragement  to  recount  his  sufferings  and  privations 
to  eager  listeners,  and  the  air  was  filled  with  cries  for  vengeance  on 
his  jailors.  But  the  Confederate  soldier  returning  home  from  a 
Northern  prison  to  a  land  of  famine,  found  his  substance  wasted 
and  his  energies  enfeebled ;  disfranchised  and  beggared,  he  forgot 


282  Southern  Historical  Society  Papers. 

his  past  sufiferings  in  his  present  wretchedness ;  he  had  neither  the 
time  to  lament,  nor  the  indination  to  talk  about  his  treatment  in 
prison  ;  he  was  thankful  if  his  health  permitted  him  to  labor  for 
those  dearer  to  him  than  himself,  and  for  the  cripple  and  the  in- 
valid there  was  no  resource.  There  was  no  lack  of  sympathy,  but 
his  friends  were  the  poor.  Thus  it  happened  that  the  cruelty  prac- 
tised in  Northern  prisons  never  came  to  light.  The  victor  monopo- 
lized the  story  of  suffering  as  well  as  the  spoils. 

I  arrived  at  Rock  Island  prison,  Illinois,  on  the  16th  January, 
1864,  in  company  with  about  fifty  other  prisoners,  from  Columbus, 
Kentucky.  ]5efore  entering  the  prison  we  were  drawn  up  in  a  line 
and  searched ;  the  snow  was  deep,  and  the  operation  prolonged  a 
most  unreasonable  time.  We  were  then  conducted  within  the 
prison  to  Barrack  No.  52,  and  again  searched — this  time  any  small 
change  we  had  about  our  persons  was  taken  away  and  placed  to 
our  credit  with  an  officer  called  the  Commissary  of  Prisoners.  The 
first  search  was  probably  for  arms  or  other  contraband  articles. 
The  prison  regulations  were  then  read,  and  we  were  dismissed. 
Rock  Island  is  in  the  Mississippi  river,  about  fifteen  hundred  miles 
above  New  Orleans,  connected  with  the  city  of  Rock  Island,  Illinois, 
on  the  East,  and  the  city  of  Davenport,  Iowa,  on  the  West,  by  a 
bridge.     It  is  about  three  miles  in  length. 

The  prison  was  1,250  feet  in  length  by  87$  feet  in  width,  enclo- 
sing twent3^-five  acres.  The  enclosure  was  a  jDlank  fence,  about 
sixteen  feet  high,  on  the  outside  of  which  a  parapet  was  built  about 
twelve  feet  from  the  ground.  Here  sentinels  were  placed  over- 
looking the  prison.  About  twenty  feet  from  the  fence,  on  the  in- 
side, was  what  Avas  called  the  "Dead  Line" — at  first  marked  with 
stakes,  afterwards  by  a  ditch — over  which  it  was  death  to  pass. 
The  barracks  were  sixty  feet  from  the  fence,  the  width  between 
each  barrack  thirty  feet,  and  streets  one  hundred  feet  wide  between 
each  row  of  ])arracks.  Two  avenues,  one  the  length  of  the  prison, 
and  ninety  feet  wide,  the  other  in  length  the  width  of  the  prison, 
and  one  hundred  and  thirty  feet  wide,  divided  the  space  enclosed 
into  four  equal  divisions  each  containing  twenty-one  barracks, 
making  a  total  of  eighty-four.  These  barracks  were  each  one 
hundred  feet  long  by  twenty-two  feet  wide,  and  contained  three 
tiers  of  bunks — platforms  of  rough  plank  for  sleeping.  About 
fifteen  feet  of  the  rear  of  the  room  was  partitioned  off  for  a  cook- 
room,  and  was  furnislied  with  a  stove  and  boiler.  The  main  room 
had  two  stoves  for  burning  coal — this  article  being  cheap  and 
abundant.  Each  barrack  was  constructed  to  receive  one  hundred 
and  twenty  men.  The  sinks  were  first  erected  in  the  centre  of  the 
streets,  but  afterwards  built  on  the  dead  line  ;  there  being  no  sewer- 
age, tubs  were  used,  and  details  of  prisoners  every  morning  carried 
the  tubs  to  the  river,  a  most  disgusting  duty.  Town i  Is  the  end  of 
the  war  a  sewer  was  made  in  one  of  the  avenues  extuii  Ung  to  the 
river,  the  prisoners  being  employed  in  blasting  rock  for  that 
purpose. 


Treatment  of  Prisoners  Daring  the  War.  283 

The  chief  executive  officers  were  a  commandant  of  the  post  and 
a  provost  marshal,  the  latter  having  the  immediate  care  and  gov- 
ernment of  the  prisoners,  assisted  by  a  number  of  deputies.  The 
parapet  was  first  guarded  by  a  regiment  of  old  men,  called  Grey- 
beards, afterwards  by  the  197th  Pennsylvania  Volunteers,  and  from 
July,  1864,  by  the  108th  United  States  Colored  Infantry.  The  duty 
of  calling  the  roll  of  prisoners  was  performed  by  several  companies 
of  the  Fourth  Veteran  Reserve  Corps.  These  men  were  soldiers 
who  had  seen  service  in  various  regiments,  and  on  account  of 
wounds  or  other  disabilities  were  formed'  into  corps  for  prison  duty. 
Each  barrack  was  in  charge  of  a  prisoner  appointed  b}^  the  provost 
marshal,  called  the  orderly  of  the  barrack.  All  orders  concerning 
the  prisoners  were  communicated  to  these  orderlies  by  the  provost 
marshal.  The  roll  was  called  three  times  a  day,  and  the  barracks 
inspected  every  morning.  One  letter  only  could  be  written  each 
week,  not  to  exceed  a  page,  and  no  subject  concerning  the  prison 
or  its  regulations  could  be  referred  to.  Newspapers  were  prohibited. 
The  last  two  precautions  weris,  however,  frequently  evaded.  Thrifty 
Federal  soldiers  employed  in  the  prison  would  receive  a  number  of 
letters  collected  by  a  prisoner,  and  mail  them  outside  the  prison 
for  a  fee  of  twenty-five  cents  on  each  letter.  Newspapers  were 
brought  in  by  the  same  parties  and  sold  for  twenty-five  cents  a 
number.  Occasionally  they  were  searched  and  discovered,  and 
tied  up  by  the  thumbs.  Frequent .  searches  were  made  of  the 
barracks  for  clothing.  In  these  searches  the  provost  marshal's  men 
would  carry  off  whatever  tJiey  considered  surplus  clothing,  leaving 
scant  wardrobes  to  those  unfortunates  who  had  not  prepared  for 
the  visit  by  secreting  their  extra  drawers,  shirt,  &c.  The  sutler  of 
the  post  supplied  prisoners  who  had  money  to  their  credit  with 
the  commissary  of  prisoners  with  such  articles  as  they  needed. 
This  was  done  through  orders,  the  sutler's  wagon  delivering  the 
goods  once  a  week.  This  arrangement,  however,  ceased  as  regards 
any  article  of  food,  in  August,  18G4.  I  refer  to  the  order  in  another 
place. 

The  winter  of  1863-4  was  intensely  cold.  During  this  time  some 
poor  fellows  were  without  blankets,  and  some  even  without  shoes. 
They  would  huddle  around  the  stoves  at  night  and  try  to  sleep. 
The  feet  of  those  who  had  no  shoes,  or  were  poorly  protected, 
became  sore  and  swollen,  and  in  one  case  that  I  saw,  mortification 
no  doubt  ensued,  for  the  man  was  taken  from  my  barrack  to  the 
hospital  and  died  in  a  few  days. 

The  severity  of  the  weather  caused  cleanliness  of  person  and 
clothing  to  be  disregarded  by  some,  and  as  a  consequence  scarcely 
a  man  escaped  the  itch.  Early  in  1864  the  small-pox  broke  out  in 
the  prison.  The  authorities  were  not  prepared  for  the  appearance 
of  this  fearful  disease — the  hospitals  not  being  finished.  The  in- 
fected and  the  healthy  men  were  in  the  same  barrack.  The  disease 
spread  so  rapidly  there  was  no  room  in  the  buildings  outside  the 
prison,  and  certain  barracks  within  the  enclosure  were  set  apart  for 


284  Southern  Historical  Society  Papers. 

small-pox  hospitals.  Prisoners  who  had  had  the  small-pox  were 
detailed  for  nurses  to  those  who  were  sick.  The  surgeons  vaccinated 
the  men  at  intervals,  but  apparently  with  little  effect.  The  death 
rate  at  this  time  was  alarming.  On  the  9th  March,  1864,  twenty- 
nine  men  had  died  in  the  hospital  from  my  barrack,  which  did  not 
have  its  full  complement  of  men.  I  noted  the  names  of  the  men 
to  that  date.     They  are  the  following  : 

R.  Shed,  T.  J.  Smith,  Allen  Screws,  D.  W.  Sandlin,  Joe  Shipp, 
D.  L.  Trundle,  J.  H.  Wood,  J.  J.  Webster,  J.  J.  Akins,  Thomas 
Pace,  William  Tatum,  W.  H.  Dotson,  W.  R.  Jones,  C.  E.  Middleton, 
R.  R.  Thompson,  William  T.  St.  John,  Samuel  Hendrix,  Jere. 
Therman,  E.  Stallings,  E.  Sapp,  Thomas  Burton,  M.  E.  Smithpeter, 
J.  M.  Ticer,  J.  L.  Smith,  John  Graham,  T,  W.  Smallwood,  Jonathan 
Faw,  G.  L.  Underwood,  C.  R.  Mangrum. 

Now  assuming  the  barrack  contained  one  hundred  and  twenty 
men,  which  was  its  full  complement,  the  death  rate  to  March  9, 
1864,  was  twenty-five  per  cent. 

The  provost  marshal's  abstract  for  May  12, 1865,  has  the  following 
figures : 

Number  of  prisoners  received,     -  -  -  12,215 

Died, 1,945 

Entered  United  States  navy,        -  -  -  1,077 

Entered  United  States  army,  (frontier  service),  1,797 

Released,  .....  1^386 

Transferred,  -  -  -  -  -  72 

Escaped,    --...-  45 

Exchanged,  .....  3^729 

10,051 


Remaining  in  prison  May  12,  1865,         -  -  2,164 

As  all  the  prisoners  were  discharged  in  June,  1865,  this  date 
(May  12)  is  near  enough  for  our  purpose.  It  shows  that  nearly 
sixteen  per  cent,  died  during  the  eighteen  months  Rock  Island  was 
used  as  a  prison.  This  number  (1,945)  includes  those  who  were 
killed  b)»  the  sentinels — the  killed  not  being  classified  by  the 
provost  marshal. 

The  number  released  (1,386)  includes  those  who  having  offered 
to  join  the  United  States  navy  or  army  were  rejected  by  the 
surgeons  as  physically  disqualified.  More  than  fifty  per  cent,  of 
the  released  were  of  this  class.  The  balance  were  principally 
Missourians,  captured  during  Price's,  last  raid.  These  claimed  to 
be  Union  men,  and  having  proved  their  loyalty  to  the  satisftiction 
of  the  Secretary  of  War,  were  released  by  his  order.  The  prisoners 
transferred  were  officers  originally  brought  to  Rock  Island,  but 
afterwards  sent  to  Johnson's  Island  or  other  military  prisons. 

In  April,  1864,  the  sentinels  on  the  parapet  commenced  firing  at 
the  prisoners  and  into  the  barracks,  and  this  practice  continued 


Treatment  of  Prisoners  During  the  War.  285 

while  I  remained.  I  am  ignorant  as  to  the  orders  the  sentinels 
received,  but  I  know  that  the  firing  was  indiscriminate,  and  ap- 
parently the  mere  caprice  of  the  sentinels.  Going  to  the  sinks  at 
night  was  a  most  dangerous  undertaking,  for  they  were  now  built 
on  the  "  dead  line,"  and  lamps  with  reflectors  were  fastened  to  the 
plank  fence — the  sentinel  above  being  unseen,  while  the  man  ap- 
proaching the  sink  was  in  full  view  of  the  sentinel.  Frequently 
they  would  halt  a  prisoner  and  make  him  take  off  his  pants  in  the 
street,  and  then  order  him  to  come  to  the  sink  in  his  drawers,  (if 
he  had  any).  I  have  heard  the  cocking  of  a  gun  presented  at 
myself  while  going  to  the  sink  at  night,  but  by  jumping  into  an 
alley  between  the  barracks  I  saved  myself  the  exercise  of  walking 
to  the  sink  in  my  drawers  or  from  receiving  the  contents  of  the 
gun.  I  find  this  entry  in  my  diary  on  June  10,  1864:  "Attacked 
with  diarrrhoea  in  the  night.  Afraid  to  go  near  the  sink."  I  can- 
not say  that  the  sentinels  had  positive  orders  to  shoot  on  each 
occasion,  but  that  they  received  encouragement  to  do  so,  and  were 
relieved  of  all  responsibility  for  such  acts,  is  certain  from  the 
following  orders,  which  were  publicly  promulgated  to  the  orderlies 
of  barracks  by  the  provost  marshal,  to  wit:. 

May  12,  1864. — Ordered,  that  no  prisoner  be  out  of  his  barracks 
after  "taps." 

May  13,  1864. — Ordered,  any  prisoner  shouting  or  making  a 
noise  will  be  shot. 

It  was  noticed  and  discussed  among  the  prisoners,  that  the 
shooting  was  most  violent  immediately  after  a  Confederate  success. 
I  noted  some  cases  that  came  under  my  own  observation,  but  by 
no  means  a  complete  list;  in  fact,  the  prisoners  became  so  accus- 
tomed to  the  firing  from  the  parapet,  that  unless  it  occurred  near 
his  side  of  the  prison,  a  man  would  take  little  notice  of  it. 

1864. 

April  27 — Prisoner  shot  by  sentinel. 

May    27 — One  man  killed  and  one  wounded  in  the  leg. 

June  9 — Franks,  Fourth  Alabama  Cavalry,  killed  last  night  at 
barrack  No.  12.  He  was  shot  by  the  sentinel  on  the 
parapet  as  he  was  about  to  step  into  the  street.  His 
body  fell  into  the  barrack,  and  lay  there  till  morning. 
The  men  afraid  to  go  near  him  during  the  night. 
22 — Bannister  Cantrell,  Co.  G.,  18th  Georgia,  and  James  W. 
Ricks,  Co.  F„  50th  Georgia,  Avere  shot  by  the  sentinel 
on  the  parapet.  They  were  on  detail  working  in  the 
ditch,  and  had  stopped  to  drink  some  fresh  water  just 
brought  to  them. 
26 — Prisoner  shot  in  leg  and  arm  while  in  his  bunk  at  bar- 
rack 55. 

During  August,  and  part  of  September,  I  was  confined  to  my 
bunk  with  dysentery,  and  have  few  entries  in  my  diary. 


286  Southern  Historical  Society  Papers. 

1864. 
September  26 — William  Ford,  Co.  D,  Wood's  Missouri  Battery,  of 
barrack  60,  killed  by  sentinel  on  the.  parapet. 
He  was  returning  from  the  sink,  and  shot  through 
the  body  at  the  rear  of  barrack  72. 

26— T.  P.  Robertson,  Co.  I,  Twenty-fourth  South  Caro- 
lina, shot  by  sentinel  on  parapet,  and  wounded 
in  the  back,  whilq  sitting  in  front  of  barrack  38, 
about  8  o'clock  this  morning. 

26— T.  J.  Garrett,  Co.  K,  Thirteenth  Arkansas,  shot  by 
sentinel  on  parapet  during  the  night  while  going 
to  the  sink. 

27 — George  R.  Canthew,  of  barrack  28,  shot  by  sentinel 
on  parapet. 

28 — Sentinel   shot   into   barrack   No.    12   through   the 
window. 
October         4 — Man  killed  in  the  frontier  pen  by  negro  sentinel. 

21 — I  was  taken  out  of  the  prison  and  paroled,  to  re- 
main at  headquarters  of  the  j^ost. 

In  none  of  the  above  cases  were  the  men  attempting  to  escape  or 
violating  any  of  the  known  rules  of  the  prison. 

The  firing  of  the  26th  September  was  regarded  as  the  parting 
salute  of  the  197th  Pennsylvania  Volunteers,  that  regiment  being 
relieved  at  guard-mount  by  the  108th  United  States  Colored  In- 
fantry. 

The  first  call  for  prisoners  to  join  the  United  States  service  was 
in  March,  1864.  It  was  proposed  to  release  all  who  offered  to  enter 
the  Navy,  and  were  rejected  by  the  surgeon.  According  to  the 
provost  marshal's  abstract  1,077  recruits  were  obtained.  The  next 
call  was  on  the  11th  Septeml^er,  1864.  This  was  for  the  jDurpose 
of  organizing  regiments  for  frontier  service,  that  is,  for  the  Indian 
country.  For  a  time  very  few  availed  themselves  of  this  chance 
to  get  something  to  eat,  and  repeated  calls  were  made.  At  length, 
a  separate  enclosure  being  built,  it  was  announced  that  the  gates 
would  be  open  all  niglit,  and  candidates  would  be  received  at  any 
time.  Then  a  remarkable  change  took  place.  The  frontier  service 
became  quite  popular.  Men  who  had  ridiculed  others  for  joining, 
decamped  during  the  night  and  enrolled  themselves  in  the  frontier 
service.  This  latter  arrangement  partook  rather  of  the  chara-cter 
of  a  private  speculation.  A  certain  Judge  Petty,  of  the  oil  regions 
of  Pennsylvania,  came  to  Rock  Island  with  authority  from  the 
President  of  the  United  States,  and  offered  a  bounty  of  $100  to 
each  man  enlisted,  with  the  assurance  that  such  as  were  rejected 
by  the  surgeon  should  be  released.  Each  man  enlisted  was  a  sub- 
stitute for  a  citizen  of  Venango,  Clarion,  and  other  adjoining  coun- 
ties of  Pennsylvania,  who  had  been  drafted  to  serve  in  the  United 
States  army.  It  was  reported  that  these  citizens  paid  $300  each  to 
Judge  Petty  to  obtain  a  substitute,  but  whatever  he  received,  I  know 


Treatment  of  Prisoners  During  the  War.  287 

that  only  $100  each  was  paid  the  enlisted  men  for  the  frontier  ser- 
vice. Captain  H.  R.  Rathbone,  United  States  army,  came  from 
Washington,  and  mustered  the  men  into  service.  I  was  detailed 
to  assist  in  preparing  the  muster-rolls,  and  can  vouch  for  all  the 
foregoing  except  the  $300,  which  I  leave  with  the  citizens  of  Ve- 
nango, Clarion,  and  other  counties  represented  in  the  war  by  the 
prisoners  of  Rock  Island.  If  the  report  be  true,  Judge  Petty 
"struck  oil"  at  Rock  Island  for  1,797  times  $200,  or  $359,400. 

Until  June  1st,  1864,  no  reasonable  complaint  could  be  made  in 
regard  to  the  food  furnished  the  prisoners ;  but  from  that  date  until 
June,  1865,  the  inmates  of  Rock  Island  were  subjected  to  starvation 
and  all  its  attendant  horrors.  I  know  that  this  charge  was  denied 
by  the  officers  of  that  prison  at  the  very  time  the  atrocity  was  be- 
ing perpetrated.  God  may  forgive  whoever  caused  the  deed  to  be 
done,  but  surely  there  is  little  hojDe  for  whoever  denies  it  iiow.  The 
following  is  a  copy  of  a  circular  from  the  Commissary  General  of 
Prisoners,  dated  June  1st,  1864.  It  is  the  ration  ordered  for  each 
prisoner  per  day: 

Pork  or  Bacon 10  ounces,  in  lieu  of  fresh  beef. 

Fresh  beef 14  ounces. 

Flour  or  soft  bread.. ..16  ounces. 

Hard  bread 14  ounces,  in  lieu  of  flour  or  soft  bread. 

Corn  meal IG  ounces,  in  lieu  of  flour  or  soft  bread. 

Beans  or  peas 12J  pounds, 

Or  rice  or  hominy 8    pounds, 

Soap 4    pounds,    j-  to  100  rations. 

Vinegar .3    quarts, 

Salt' ,  85  pounds, 

Now  all  this  means  only  bread  and  meat — sixteen  ounces  of  the 
former,  and  fourteen  ounces  of  the  latter;  and  we  will  add  one- 
hundredth  part  of  eight  pounds  of  hominy.  For  let  the  reader 
observe  that  if  hominy  is  issued,  rice  or  peas  or  beans  is  not  issued. 
Here,  then,  we  have  only  three  articles  of  food  according  to  the 
official  document,  but  in  so  far  as  that  represents  the  quantities  and 
the  kind  of  articles  issued  to  the  prisoners,  it  is  a  fraud ;  as  Paul 
wrote  the  Galations,  "  Behold,  before  God,  I  lie  not."  Here  is  what 
the  prisoners  actually  received : 

Twelve  ounces  corn  bread,fourandahalf  ounces saltbeef  (usually 
unfit  for  human  food).  No  man  can  conceive  the  effect  of  this  diet. 
To  realize  what  he  would  eat  at  the  end  of  a  month  he  must  expe- 
rience this  treatment  for  a  month.  Did  the  prisoners  eat  rats  and 
mice  and  dogs  when  they  could  get  them?  What  would  they  not 
eat?  The  cravings  of  hunger  were  never  relieved.  One  continued 
gnawing  anguish,  that  sleep  aggravated  rather  than  appeased  was 
ever  present.     They  did  eat  rats  and  mice  to  my  knowledge. 

The  dogs  were  missing,  and  who  will  doubt  that  the  starved 
wretches,  who  ate  rats,  had  feasted  on  the  dogs.  What  difference 
is  there  between  my  statement  and  the  official  circular?  I  say 
twelve  ounces  bread ;  it  says  sixteen  ounces.  I  say  four  and  'a  half 
ounces  salt  beef;  it  says  ten  ounces  salt  pork.     I  say  two  articles  of 


288  Southern  Historical  Society  Papers. 

food,  the  circular  mentions  three.  The  bread  we  received  was  made 
of  corn  meal,  in  loaves  shaped  like  bricks,  and  about  as  hard. 
The  salt  beef  had  a  most  offensive  odor.  An  orderly  asked  an 
officer  of  the  prison  to  step  into  his  barrack  and  smell  the  beef; 
he  did  so,  but  merely  remarked  he  had  often  eaten  worse.  De- 
pravity had  reached  its  limit  in  his  case,  for  he  w^as  doing  violence 
to  his  stomach  in  even  smelling  that  beef. 

I  find  this  note  in  my  diary  July  10,  1864:  "Nothing  to  eat  till 
one  o'clock,"  and  again  September  18th:  "Nothing  to  eat  at  all 
this  day."  For  some  reason  the  bread  wagon  did  not  come  in;  the 
bread  was  issued  daily,  and  the  meat  Avhich  was  issued  every  ten 
days,  had  been  consumed.  There  is  not  at  first  glance  very  much 
difference  between  my  statement  and  the  commissary's  circular, 
and  for  a  few  daj^s  the  difference  in  quantity  would  be  immaterial, 
but  when  the  quality  of  the  food,  and  the  weary  sameness  through 
many  months  is  considered,  even  the  commissary's  allowance 
would  have  been  a  sumptuous  repast.  Think  of  it  for  a  moment. 
We  will  take  his  bacon,  and  his  beans,  and  his  soft  bread,  that  is 
all  to  be  sure,  but  what  a  meal,  when  compared  with  the  stinking 
salt  beef,  and  the  hard  corn  bread.  , 

When  the  order  reducing  the  ration,  dated  June  1st,  1864,  went 
into  effect,  those  prisoners  who  w'ere  fortunate  enough  to  have 
money  to  their  credit  with  the  commissary,  could  still  obtain  flour 
from  the  sutler,  and  large  quantities  were  brought  in  every  week. 
The  commissary's  journal  would  prove  this,  and  at  the  same  time 
show  the  scarcity  of  bread  within  the  prison. 

Prisoners  who  had  no  money  w'rote  to  their  friends  for  food ;  and 
those  who  had  no  friends  who  were  able  to  send  them  food,  were 
not  all  neglected;  for  the  Christian  Avomen  of  the  North  came  to 
their  assistance,  wdth  food  and  clothing;  and  continued  active  and 
untiring,  even  in  the  face  of  official  insolence,  until  the  order  from 
the  Commissary  General  of  Prisoners,  dated  Washington,  August 
10th,  1864,  cut  the  prisoners  off  from  the  outside  world,  and  all 
hope  of  assistance.  No  more  food  from  friends;  no  more  flour 
from  the  sutler ;  no  more  clothing ;  no  prospect  of  exchange ;  no 
hope  of  release,  no  more  visits  from  wife  or  mother.  Under  these 
circumstances  the  wonder  is  that  more  men  did  not  join  the  United 
States  army.  Disease  followed  as  a  matter  of  course,  and  the  death 
rate  is  fully  accounted  for. 

On  the  10th  October,  1864,  being  a  British  subject,  I  addressed  a 
protest  to  Lord  Lyons,  then  tlie  British  minister  at  Washington, 
from  which  I  make  the  following  extracts : 

*  *  *  I  further  declare  that  the  food  issued  to- us  is  unwhole- 
some, insufficient  and  productive  of  disease;  *  *  *  that  we  are 
strictly  prohibited  by  circular  No.  4,  dated  Office  of  Commissary 
General  of  Prisoners,  Washington,  D.  C,  August  10th,  1864,  from 
receiving,  by  purchase  or  otherwise,  vegetables  or  other  provisions, 
in  cousequence  scurvy  is  prevalent  and  other  diseases  generated. 
*    *    *    Subject  as  I  am  to  the  pangs  of  hunger,  to  disease,  to  a 


Treatment  of  Prisoners  During  the  War.  289 

violent  death,  I  appeal  to  your  lordship  to  demand  a  mitigation  of 
the  rigor  of  my  present  situation." 

This  was  made  known  to  the  United  States  Government,  by  the 
British  minister,  in  a  letter  to  Mr.  Seward,  dated  October  20th,  1864, 
in  these  words:  *  *  *  ^"Wright  complains  very  much  of  the 
quantity  and  quality  of  the  food  he  gets  as  being  insufficient  and 
generative  of  disease.  I  hope  that  his  case  may  be  attended  to, 
and  that  I  may  hear  something  soon  upon  the  subject." 

A  few  days  after  this  I  was  paroled  to  assist  in  the  clerical  du- 
ties of  the  post  adjutant's  office,  and  remained  there  until  released 
in  June,  1865. 

It  must  not  be  supposed  that  my  correspondence  with  the  British 
minister  left  the  prison  in  the  prescribed  channel.  I  had  tried  that, 
and  found  that  certain  letters  of  mine  did  not  reach  him.  My 
■communications  were  smuggled  out  in  the  manner  I  have  de- 
scribed in  this  paper,  and  sent  under  cover  to  friends  in  St.  Louis 
and  Albany,  who  mailed  them.  I  mention  this  because  the  Sec- 
retary of  War  took  some  credit  to  himself  for  liberality  in  my  case, 
as  will  be  seen  from  the  following  extract  of  a  letter  addressed  to 
Mr.  Seward : 

War  Depar'J'ment,  Washington  City, 
October  12th,  1864, 


Mr.  Wright  makes  no  complaint  of  harsh  treatment,  and  the  pa- 
pers which  he  presents  show  that  the  officers  who  have  had  him 
in  charge   have   rendered   him   every  facility  in   submitting  his 

appeal. 

********* 

If  Mr.  Seward  was  misled  by  this  statement  in  regard  to  my 
treatment,  he  was  certainly  undeceived  when  he  received  the  British 
minister's  note,  dated  October  20th,  of  which  I  have  given  an 
extract. 

The  wretched  condition  of  the  prisoners  at  Rock  Island  was  well 
known  to  the  citizens^of  Rock  Island  City  and  Davenport. 

At  the  request  of  Judge  Grant  of  the  latter  city,  on  the  20th  of 
September,  1864,  I  made  a  faithful  statement  of  the  treatment  and 
condition  of  the  prisoners ;  and  for  this  purpose,  in  company  with 
others,  I  visited  a  number  of  barracks.  The  bread  and  the  meat 
were  carefully  weighed,  and  the  quality  of  the  food  truthfully  re- 
ported. The  judge  desired  a  plain  statement,  without  exaggeration 
or  comment,  to  use  in  an  eifort  he  was  about  to  make  at  Washing- 
ton to  ameliorate  the  condition  of  the  prisoners.  As  no  change  for 
the  better  took  place,  the  presumption  is  that  Judge  Grant  did  not 
succeed  in  his  benevolent  mission.  I  have  mentioned  that  the 
officers  of  the  prison  denied  the  charge  of  cruelty,  at  a  time  when 
the  poor  wretches  within  the  walls  were  sinking  under  the  starva- 
tion diet  I  have  described.     That  denial  was  made  necessary  in 


290  Southern  Historical  Society  Papers. 

consequence  of  the  following  letter,  which  appeared  in  the  New 

York  Neivs  in  January,  1865 : 

[From  a  Private  Letter.] 

Chicago,  Illinois,  December  27,  18G-1. 

*  *  *  "The  condition  and  suffering  of  the  Rebel  prisoners  at 
Rock  Island  is  a  source  of  agony  to  every  heart  not  absolutely  dead 
to  the  feelings  of  common  humanity  and  the  scantiest  Christian 
mercy.  There  are  from  six  to  eight  thousand  confined  here.  Many 
have  taken  *the  oath' — any  oath  to  save  themselves  from  actual 
starvation.  These  released  prisoners,  though  liberated  at  different 
intervals  of  time,  all  tell  the  same  story.  The  allowance  to  each 
man  has  been  one  small  loaf  of  bread  (it  takes  three  to  make  a 
pound),  and  a  piece  of  meat  two  inches  square  per  day.  This  was 
the  rations !  Lately  it  has  been  reduced.  Think  of  it  reduced ! 
All  the  released  ones  say  that  no  man  can  live  on  the  rations  given, 
and  that  there  are  men  that  would  do  anything  to  get  enough  to  eat! 
Such  is  the  wretched,  ravenous  condition  of  these  poor  starving  crea- 
tures, that  several  dogs  which  have  come  to  the  barracks  with  teams 
have  fallen  victims  to  their  hunger,  and  they  are  trapping  rats  and 
mice  for  food,  actually  to  save  life.  Many  of  them  are  nearly  naked, 
bare-footed,  bare-headed,  and  without  bed-clothes ;  exposed  to  cease- 
less torture  from  the  chill  and  pitiless  winds  of  the  upper  Missis- 
sippi. Thus,  naked  and  hungry,  and  in  prison,  enduring  a  wretch- 
edness which  no  tongue  can  describe,  no  language  tell,  they  suffer 
from  day  to  day — each  day  their  number  growing  less  by  death — 
death,  their  only  comforter — their  only  merciful  visitor ! 

God  in  heaven  !  Shall  these  things  continue  ?  Can  we  hope  for 
success  in  our  cause?  Will  a  mercifvil  and  just  God  bless  and 
prosper  it,  if  such  cruel  inhumanity  is  practiced  by  our  rulers  ? 
May  we  not  provoke  a  terrible  and  just  chastisement  at  His  hands? 
No  Christian  heart,  knowing  the  facts,  can  feel  otherwise. 

Many  charitable  persons,  influenced  by  no  other  motives  than 
common  humanity  and  Christian  duty,  have  sent  supplies  of  cloth- 
ing to  these  prisoners,  but  they  have  not  been  permitted  to  reach 
them.  I  have  heard  of  sales  of  such  clothing  having  been  made 
across  the  river  at  Davenport,  at  very  low  prices.  Is  it  possible 
that  the  authorities  at  Washington  know  of  and  approve  these 
things. 

A  good  many  have  taken  the  oath,  stating  afterwards  to  citizens 
that  they  did  so  really  to  save  them  from  starvation.  I  learn  that 
there  are  about  five  thousand  confined  here,  who  have  resolved  to 
die  rather  than  do  so.  Although  they  are  wrong,  is  there  not  a 
sublime  heroism  in  the  adherence  of  these  men,  amid  such  trials, 
to  a  cause  which  they  believe  to  be  right?" 

This  exposure  was  denounced  by  a  Chicago  paper  as  "An  in- 
famous Rebel  falsehood,"  and  "an  attempt  to  justify  the  Rebels  in 
starving  our  prisoners."  The  Chicago  journalist  may  be  excused 
on  the  ground  of  ignorance,  but  not  so  the  officers  of  the  prison ; 


Treatment  of  Prisoners  During  the  War.  291 

as  principals  or  as  tools  they  committed  this  outrage  on  humanity 
for  the  sake  of  their  commissions,  like  the  Irish  jurors  portrayed 
by  Curran,  "  Conscience  swung  from  its  moorings,  and  they  sought 
safety  for  themselves  in  the  surrender  of  the  victims." 

But  hunger  was  not  the  only  cause  of  suffering,  clothing  was 
prohibited.  The  provost  marshal  took  possession  of  all  boxes  and 
packages  addressed  to  prisoners — these  were  opened  and  examined — 
and  until  August,  1864,  with  the  exception  of  some  pilfering,  usually 
reached  the  owner;  but  after  that  date,  the  prisoners  were  not  per- 
mitted to  receive  anything  sent  by  friends  or  relatives.  How  much 
clothing  and  provisions  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  provost  marshal 
and  his  men  after  August,  will  never  be  known.  What  they  did 
with  the  booty  may  be  readily  guessed.  On  the  22d  February, 
1865,  three  Confederate  officers  arrived,  and  distributed  clothing  to 
the  prisoners,  but  the  worst  part  of  the  winter  had  then  been  en- 
dured, for  want  of  that  covering  the  jailors  had  taken  away.  I 
have  given  my  own  experience  until  October,  1864,  but  I  know 
that  the  suffering  was  even  more  terrible  during  the  following 
winter.  In  a  climate  where  the  well  clothed  sentinels  were  relieved 
at  short  intervals  to  prevent  their  freezing  to  death,  nature  demands 
a  generous  food  to  sustain  life;  but  the  last  winter  in  Rock  Island 
prison  presented  a  scene  of  destitution  only  to  be  equaled  by  a 
crew  of  cast-awayg  in  the  frozen  ocean,  and  this  too  where  the 
sound  of  Sabbath  bells  were  heard.  It  was  a  pleasant  sound  to 
many  who  felt  that  their  troubles  were  nearly  ended ;  it  seemed  a 
prelude  to  the  melody  that  awaited  them  in  a  better  land.  But  to 
those  who  could  not  die,  whose  vitality  doomed  them  to  suffer, 
what  a  mockery  the  sound  seemed  to  them ;  what  rebellious  thoughts 
of  God's  injustice  took  possession  of  their  souls,  and  would  not 
down  while  tortured  with  the  cravings  of  hunger.  I  have  realized 
these  things.  I  have  noted  one  day  that  I  tasted  no  food.  It  was 
Sunday  the  18th  September,  1864.  I  was  recovering  from  a  severe 
attack  of  dysentery.  I  was  very  hungry.  The  church  bells  were 
ringing  as  I  eagerly  watched  the  great  gate  of  the  prison  hoping  it 
would  open,  and  the  bread  wagon  would  come  in,  but  hour  after 
hour  passed  away,  and  there  was  no  sign,  evening  came  on  and  I 
gave  up  all  hope.  I  had  lingered  near  that  gate  all  day.  Hunger 
is  delirium,  and  the  gospel  is  not  for  the  famished  body.  The  good 
men  who  sometimes  preached  for  us  had  had  their  breakfasts.  The 
Government  that  sent  us  preachers  would  not  send  us  bread. 


L. 


292  Southern  Historical  Society  Papers.  ' 

Dr.  Handy  has  preserved  in  his  letter-book  an  original  copy  of 

PRISON  RULES  AT  FORT  DELAWARE, 

which  we  give  in  full : 

Headquarters  Fort  Delaware, 
July  8th,  1864. 

I.  Roll  call  at  reveille  and  retreat. 
II.  Police  call  at  7  A.  M.  and  4  P.  M. 

III.  Breakfast  call  at  8  A.  M.;  dinner,  2  P.  M. 

IV.  Sergeants  in  charge  of  the  prisoners  will  exact  from  them  a 
strict  compliance  with  the  above  calls,  which  will  be  regularly  en- 
forced, and  must  promptly  report  to  the  officer  in  charge,  the  num-  f, 
ber  present  and  absent,  sick,  etc.;  and  any  who  are  guilty  of  in-  ? 
subordination,  or  any  violation  of  the  rules  of  this  prison.     They 
must  fdso  notify  their  men  that  if  they  do  not  "promptly  obey  any  order  , 
given  them  by  a  sentinel,  officer,  or  men  in  charge  of  them,  they  toill  be 
shot. 

V.  Sergeants  in  charge  will  be  held  responsible  for  the  due  exe- 
cution of  these  rules,  and  for  the  regular  accounting  for  the  number 
of  their  men. 

By  comrnand  A.  Schoepf,  Brigadier-General. 

(Signed)  •  George  W.  Ahl,  , 

Captain  and  A.  A.  A.  G.      ^ 

We  have  received  a  paper  from  Mr.  John  A.  Bateson,  of  Pioche, 
Nevada,  one  of  the  Federal  guard  at  Rock  Island,  which  is  a  strong 
confirmation  of  the  above  statement  of  Mr.  Wright. 

Mr.  Bateson  is  vouched  for  by  a  district  judge  and  a  prominent  r 
lawyer  of  Pioche  as  a  gentleman  of  "perfect  truthfulness  and  reli- 
ability"; and  he  refers  to  a  number  of  leading  Republicans  in  the 
Northwest,  with  whom  he  has  always  been  politically  associated, 
"  for  an  endorsement  of  his  character  as  a  staunch  Republican  and 
honorable  man." 

His,  therefore,  is  not  "Rebel"  testimony,  but  that  of  a  Union 
soldier,  and  "  a  truly  loyal  Republican,"  whom  Mr.  Blaine  cannot 
dismiss  with  the  cry  of  "traitor." 

TESTIMONY  OF  A  FEDERAL  SOLDIER. 

Pioche,  Februaiy  19,  1876. 

During  a  period  of  ten  months  I  was  a  member  of  the  garrison 
of  the  Rock  Island  Military  Prison.     There  were  confined  there' 
about  ten  thousand  men.     Those  men  were  retained  in  a  famishing  \ 
condition  by  order  of  Edwin  M.  Stanton,  Secretary  of  War.     That 
order  was  approved  by  Abraham  Lincoln.     It  was  read  before  the 
inside  garrison  of  the  prison  sometime  in  January,  1864.     It  was 


Treatment  of  Prisoners  During  the  War.  .293 

read  at  assembly  for  duty  on  the  2d,  in  front  of  the  prison.  It 
went  into  effect  on  the  following  day.  It  continued  in  force  until 
the  expiration  of  my  term  of  service,  and,  I  have  understood,  until 
the  close  of  the  war. 

When  it  was  read,  Colonel  Shaffner,  of  the  Eighth  Veteran  Re- 
serves, was  acting  Provost  Marshal  of  Prisoners.  I  think  that  it  was 
Captain  Robinson  who  read  the  order.  It  reduced  the  daily  allow- 
ance of  the  captives  to  about  ten  ounces  of  bread  and  four  ounces 
of  meat  per  man. 

Some  time  in  January  a  batch  of  prisoners  arrived.  They  were 
captured  at  Knoxville.  Sixty  of  them  were  consigned  to  barrticks 
under  my  charge.  They  were  received  by  me  at  about  3  in 
the  afternoon.  One  of  the  prisoners  inquired  of  me  when  they 
would  draw  rations.  I  told  him  not  until  the  following  day.  He 
said  that  in  that  case  some  of  his  comrades  must  die,  as  they  had 
eaten  nothing  since  their  capture  several  days  before — the  exact 
period  I  cannot  state.  That  evening  at  roll  call  one  of  the  prisoners 
exhibited  symptoms  of  delirium.  He  moved  from  the  ranks,  and 
seemed  to  grasp  for  something,  which  I  understood  to  be  a  table 
loaded  with  delicacies.  I  returned  him  to  the  ranks,  where  he 
remained  until  roll-call  was  over,  when  I  left.  On  the  following 
morning  he  and  two  others  were  dead. 

The  mortality  report  among  the  neiv  Rehs  wa  s  extraordinarily  large. 
I  think  it  amounted  to  about  ten  per  cent,  of  the  entire  nulnber.  It 
created  an  interest  among  the  company  commandants,  and  was  the 
subject  of  many  expressions.  From  the  Rebel  orderlies  I  learned  that 
the  symptoms  in  each  case  were  the  same.  There  was  no  complaint ; 
no  manifestation  of  illness.  Some  dropped  while  standing  on  the 
floor;  others  fell  from  a  sitting  posture.  All  swooned  and  died 
without  a  struggle. 

Some  of  the  prisoners  had  money  sent  them.  It  was  deposited 
with  the  Provost  Marshal,  and  their  orders  on  the  sutler  were  at 
first  honored,  but  supplies  from  this  direction  were  soon  prohibited; 
the  sutler's  wagon  was  excluded  from.,the  prison.  Supplies  from 
relatives  of  prisoners,  consisting  of  clothes,  food  and  stationery 
came  for  some.  The  parcels  containing  them  were  distributed 
from  "Barrack  Thirty."  The  boxes  were  examined,  everything 
in  the  shape  of  subsistence  was  removed,  and  the  box  and  its  con- 
tents delivered  to  the  prisoner;  the  food  it  contained  was  destroyed 
before  the  face  of  the  tantalized  captive. 

Small  tufts  of  a  weed,  called  parsley,  grew  under  the  sides  of  the 
prison.  It  was  over  the  dead-line,  where  prisoners  dare  not  go. 
At  their  earnest  entreaty  I  have  sometimes  plucked  and  handed  it 
to  some  of  them.  They  told  me  it  was  a  feast.  Squads  of  prisoners 
under  guard  were  sent  to  work  in  different  parts  of  the  Island. 
They  sometimes  purchased  raw  potatoes  and  onions  for  their  com- 
rades suf!ering  with  scurvy.  They  were  searched  at  the  prison 
gate,  and  those  articles  taken  from  them. 

I  am  ready  to  swear  that  in  my  opinion  the  Knoxville  prisoners 
were  starved  to  death. 


294  Southern  Historical  Society  Papers. 

As  to  the  torture  endured  by  the  scurvy  patients,  the  shooting 
of  prisoners  by  the  guards  on  the  parapets,  the  smashing  of  their ' 
skulls  with  revolvers  by  officers  of  the  prison,  such  misfortunes  are 
incident  to  prison  life,  and  neither  tlie  Government  nor  the  Re- 
publican party  can  be  held  responsible  for  them. 

The  weather  on  January  1st  was  the  most  intensely  cold  I  ever 
experienced;  and  from  all  parts  of  the  prison  came  intelligence  of 
prisoners  frozen  to  death.  One  died  in  one  of  my  companies.  He 
was  reported  to  me,  and  I  placed  my  hand  on  the  corpse;  it  was 
frozen.  This  is  the  first  time  I  have  mentioned  it.  I  cannot  say 
that  he  froze  to  death. 

John  A.  Bateson, 
115th  E.  V.  R.  C,  Second  Battalion. 

We  have  a  long 

STATEMENT   OF   JOHN    J.    VAN-ALLEN, 

of  Watkins,  Schuyler  county.  New  York,  from  which  we  make  the 
following  extract: 

Late  in  the  fall  of  1864,  and  when  tlie  bitter  sleets  and  biting 
frosts  of  winter  had  commenced,  a  relief  organization  was  impro- 
vised by  some  of  the  generous  ladies  and  gentlemen  of  the  city  of 
Baltimore  for  the  purpose  of  alleviating  the  w%intsof  those  confined 
in  the  Elmira  Prison,  where  there  were  then  several  thousand  pri- 
soners. 

I  had  the  honor  to  be  appointed  by  that  organization  to  ascer- 
tain the  needs  of  the  prisoners,  to  distribute  clothing,  money,  etc., 
as  they  might  require.  I  had  formerly  lived  at  Elmira,  where  I 
studied  my  profession,  but  then  (as  now)  I  resided  at  this  place, 
twenty  miles  distant  from  Elmira,  where  I  have  resided  for  nearly 
twenty-five  years,  and  was  well  known  at  Elmira. 

As  soon  as  appointed  I  journeyed  to  that  delightful  paradise  for 
Confederate  prisoners  (according  to  Walker,  Tracy  and  Piatt),  and 
stated  the  object  of  my  visit  to  the  commanding  officer,  and  asked 
to  be  permitted  to  go  through  the  prison  in  order  to  ascertain  the 
wants  of  the  prisoners,  with  the  request  that  I  might  distribute 
necessary  blankets,  clothing,  money,  medicines,  etc. 

He  treated  me  with  consideration  and  kindness,  and  informed 
me  that  they  were  very  destitute  of  clothing  and  blankets;  that 
not  one-half  of  them  had  even  a  single  blanket;  and  that  many 
were  nearly  naked,  the  most  of  tliem  having  been  captured 
during  the  hot  summer  months  with  no  other  than  thin  cotton 
clothes,  which  in  most  instances  were  in  tatters.  Yet  he  stated 
that  he  could  not  allow  me  to  enter  the  prison  gate  or  administer 
relief,  as  an  order  of  the  War  Department  rendered  him  powerless. 
I  then  asked  him  to  telegraph  the  facts  to  the  AVar  Department  and 
ask  a  revocation  or  modification  of  the  order,  which  he  did ;  and  two 
or  three  days  were  thus  consumed  by  me  in  a  fruitless  endeavor 


Treatment  of  Prisoners  During  the  War.  295 

to  procure  the  poor  jDrivilege  of  carrying  out  the  designs  of  the 
good  Samaritans  at  Baltimore  who  were  seeking  to  alleviate  in  a 
measure  the  wants  of  the  poor  sufferers,  who  were  there  dying  off 
like  rotten  sheep  from  cold  and  exposure.  The  officer  in  com- 
mand was  an  army  officer,  and  his  heart  nearly  bled  for  those  poor 
sufferers ;  and  I  know  he  did  all  in  his  power  to  aid  me,  but  his 
efforts  were  fruitless  to  assist  me  to  put  a  single  coat  on  the  Back  of 
a  sufferer.  The  brutal  Stanton  was  inexorable  to  all  my  entreaties, 
and  turned  a  deaf  ear  to  the  tale  of  their  sufferings.  The  only 
proposition  that  could  be  entertained  was  this:  If  I  would  fetch 
clothing  only  of  a  gray  color  (Confederate  uniforms)  I  could  place 
it  in  the  hands  of  some  under-strappers  of  the  loyal  persuasion,  as 
well  as  such  moneys  as  I  might  wish  to  leave  in  the  same  hands, 
-and  they  would  distribute  the  same  as  they  liked. 

This  could  not  be  allowed  to  be  done  by  the  commanding  officer, 
%Vii  must  be  done  by  one  of  the  loyal  (?)  gentry,  who  I  became 
satisfied  would  absorb  it  before  any  poor  Confederate  soldier  would 
even  catch  a  glimse  at  its  shadow;  and  I  was  actually  forced  to 
give  the  matter  up  in  despair. 

The  nearest  I  could  get  to  the  j^oor  skeletons  confined  in  that 
prison,  was  a  tower  built  by  some  speculator  in  an  adjoining  field 
across  the  way  from  the  prison  pen,  for  which  privilege  a  money 
consideration  was  exacted  and  paid.  .On  taking  a  position  upon 
this  tower  what  a  sight  of  misery  and  squalor  was  presented !  My 
heart  was  made  sick,  and  I  blushed  for  my  country — more  because 
of  the  inhumanity  there  depicted.  Nearly  all  of  the  many  thou- 
sands there  were  in  dirty  rags.  The  rain  was  pouring,  and  thou- 
sands were  without  shelter,  standing  in  the  mud  in  their  bare  feet, 
with  clothes  in  tatters,  of  the  most  unsubstantial  material,  withouf: 
blankets.  I  tell  the  truth,  and  Mr.  Charles  C.  B.  Watkins  dare  not 
deny  it,  when  I  say  these  men  suffered  bitterly  for  the  want  of 
clothing,  blankets  and  other  necessaries.  I  was  denied  the  privi- 
lege of  covering  their  nakedness. 

The  above  statement  needs  no  comment.  The  refusal  of  Mr. 
Stanton  to  allow  this  high-minded,  Northern  gentleman  to  distri- 
bute supplies  among  these  destitute  suffering  prisoners,  was  of  a 
piece  with  his  insolent  reply  to  Hon.  A.  J.  Beresford  Hope,  who 
wrote  for  permission  to  use  a  sum  of  money  raised  by  English 
gentlemen  to  alleviate  the  condition  of  Confederate  prisoners  at  the 
North,  and  received  for  answer,  that  the  United  States  Government 
was  rich  enough  to  provide  for  its  prisoners,  and  needed  no  foreign  help. 

Yes  !  the  United  States  Government  was  amply  able  to  provide 
for  its  captives ;  but  it  chose  to  adopt  a  system  of  cold-blooded 
cruelty,  and  to  seek  to  avoid  the  verdict  of  history  by  the  most 
persistent  slai;iders  against  the  Confederate  authorities.' 

We  give  in  full  the  following  statement  of  a  medical  officer  of 


296  Southern  Historical  Society  Papers, 

the  United  States  army,  who  was  on  duty  at  the  Elmira  prison. 
His  letter  was  originally  published  in  the  New  York  World,  and 
dated  from  Brooklyn,  New  York : 

STATEMENT   OF   A   UNITED   STATES   MEDICAL   OFFICER. 

To  the  Editor  of  the  World  : 

Sir — I  beg  herewith  (after  having  carefully  gone  through  the 
various  documents  in  my  possession  pertaining  to  the  matter)  to 
forward  you  the  following  statistics  and  facts  of  the  mortality  of 
the  Rebel  prisoners  in  the  Northern  prisons,  more  particularly  at 
that  of  Elmira,  New  York,  where  I  served  as  one  of  the  medical 
oflBcers  for  many  months.  I  found,  on  commencement  of  my  duties 
at  Elmira,  about  11,000  Rebel  prisoners,  full}^  one-third  of  whom 
were  under  medical  treatment  for  diseases  principally  owing  to  an 
improper  diet,  a  want  of  clothing,  necessary  shelter  and  bad  sur- 
sounding;  the  diseases  were  consequently  of  the  following  nature: 
Scurvy,  diarrhoea,  pneumonia,  and  the  various  branches  of  typhoid, 
all  superinduced  by  the  causes,  more  or  less,  aforementioned. 

The  winter  of  1864-5  was  an  unusually  severe  and  rigid  one,  and 
the  prisoners  arriving  from  the  Southern  States  during  this  season 
were  mostly  old  men  and  lads,  clothed  in  attire  suitable  only  to  the 
genial  climate  of  the  South.  I  need  not  state  to  you  that  this  alone 
was  ample  cause  for  an  unusual  mortality  amongst  them.  The 
surroundings  were  of  the  following  nature,  viz:  narrow,  confined 
limits,  but  a  few  acres  of  ground  in  extent,  and  through  which 
slowly  flowed  a  turbid  stream  of  water,  carrying  along  with  it  all 
the  excremental  filth  and  debris  of  the  camp ;  this  stream  of  water, 
horrible  to  relate,  was  the  only  source  of  supply,  for  an  extended 
period,  that  the  prisoners  could  possibly  use  for  the  purpose  of 
ablution,  and  to  slake  their  thirst  from  day  to  day ;  the  tents  and 
other  shelter  allotted  to  the  camp  at  Elmira  were  insufficient,  and 
crowded  to  the  utmost  extent — hence,  small  pox  and  other  skin 
diseases  raged  through  the  camp. 

Here  I  may  note  that,  owing  to  a  general  order  from  the  Govern- 
ment to  vaccinate  the  prisoners,  my  opportunities  were  ample  to 
observe  the  effects  of  spurious  and  diseased  matter,  and  there  is  no 
doubt  in  my  mind  but  that  syphilis  was  engrafted  in  many  in- 
stances; ugly  and  horrible  ulcers  and  eruptions  of  a  characteristic 
nature  were,  alas,  too  frequent  and  obvious  to  be  mistaken.  Small 
pox  cases  were  crowded  in  such  a  manner  that  it  was  a  matter  of 
impossibility  for  the  surgeon  to  treat  his  patients  individually; 
they  actually  laid  so  adjacent  that  the  simple  movement  of  one  of 
them  would  cause  his  neighbor  to  cry  out  in  agony  of  pain.  The 
confluent  and  malignant  type  prevailed  to  such  an  extent,  and  of 
such  a  nature,  that  the  body  would  frequently  be  found  one  con- 
tinuous scab. 

The  diet  and  other  allowances  by  the  Government  for  the  use  of 
the  prisoners  were  ample,  yet  the  poor-  unfortunates  were  allowed 


Treatment  of  Prisoners  During  the  War.  297 

to  starve;  but  why,  is  a  query  which  I  will  allow  your  readers  to 
infer,  and  to  draw  conclusions  therefrom.  Out  of  the  number  of 
prisoners,  as  before  mentioned,  over  three  thousand  of  them  now 
lay  buried  in  the  cemetery  located  near  the  camp  for  that  purpose ; 
a  mortality  equal,  if  not  greater  than  that  of  any  prison  in  the 
South.  At  Andersonville,  as  I  am  well  informed  by  brother  officers 
who  endured  confinement  there,  as  well  asby  the  records  at  Wash- 
ington, the  mortality  was  twelve  thousand  out  of  say  about  forty 
thousand  prisoners.  Hence  it  is  readily  to  be  seen  that  range  of 
mortality  was  no  less  at  Elmira  than  at  Andersonville. 

At  Andersonville  there  was  actually  nothing  to  feed  or  clothe  the 
prisoners  with,  their  own  soldiers  faring  but  little  better  than  their 
prisoners;  this,  together  with  a  torrid  sun  and  an  impossibility  of 
exchange,  was  abundant  cause  for  their  mortality.  With  our  pri- 
soners at  Elmira,  no  such  necessity  should  honestly  have  existed, 
as  our  Go%^ernnient  had  actually,  as  I  have  stated,  most  bountifully 
made  provision  for  the  wants  of  all  detained,  both  of  officers  and 
men.  Soldiers  who  have  been  prisoners  at  Andersonville,  and 
have  done  duty  at  Elmira,  confirm  this  statement,  and  which  is  in 
nowise  in  one  particular  exaggerated;  also,  the  same  may  be  told 
of  other  prisons  managed  in  a  similarly  terrible  manner.  I  allude 
to  Sandusky,  Delaware  and  others.  I  do  not  say  that  all  prisoners 
at  the  North  suffered  and  endured  the  terrors  and  the  cupidity  of 
venal  sub-officials;  on  the  contrary,  at  the  camps  in  the  harbor  of 
New  York,  and  at  Point  Lookout,  and  at  other  camps  where  my 
official  duties  from  time  to  time  have  called  me,  the  prisoners  in 
all  respects  have  fared  as  our  Government  intended  and  designated 
they  should.  Throughout  Texas,  where  food  and  the  necessaries 
of  life  were  plentiful,  I  found  our  own  soldiers  faring  well,  and  to 
a  certain  extent  contented,  so  far,  at  least,  as  prisoners  of  war  could 
reasonably  expect  to  be. 

Our  Government  allowed  the  prisoners  of  war  the  following 
rations:  Twelve  ounces  of  pork  or  bacon,  or  one  pound  of  salt  or 
fresh  beef;  one  pound  six  ounces  of  soft  bread  or  flour,  or  one 
pound  of  corn  meal;  and  to  every  one  hundred  rations,  fifteen 
pounds  of  beans  or  peas  and  ten  pounds  of  rice  or  hominy,  ten 
pounds  of  green  coffee  or  five  pounds  of  roasted  ditto,  or  one  pound 
eight  ounces  of  tea,  fifteen  pounds  of  sugar,  four  quarts  of  vinegar, 
thirty  pounds  of  potatoes,  and  if  fresh  potatoes  could  not  be 
obtained,  canned  vegetables  were  allowed.  Prisoners  of  war  will 
receive  for  subsistence  one  ration  each,  without  regard  to  rank; 
their  private  property  shall  be  duly  respected,  and  each  shall  be 
treated  with  regard  to  his  rank,  and  the  wounded  are  to  be  treated 
with  the  same  care  as  the  wounded  of  our  army. 

How  faithfully  these  regulations  were  carried  out  at  Elmira  is 
shown  by  the  following  statement  of  facts:  The  sick  in  hospitals 
were  curtailed  in  every  respect  (fresh  vegetables  and  other  anti- 
scorbutics were  dropped  from  the  list),  the  food  scant,  crude  and 
unfit;  medicine  so  badly  dispensed  that  it  was  a  farce  for  the  med- 


298  Southern  Historical  Society  Papers. 

ical  man  to  prescribe.  At  large  in  the  camp  the  prisoner  fared 
still  worse;  a  slice  of  bread  and  salt  meat  was  given  him  for  his 
breakfast,  a  poor  hatched-up,  concocted  cup  of  soup,  so  called,  and 
a  slice  of  miserable  bread,  was  all  he  could  obtain  for  his  coming 
meal;  and  hundreds  of  sick,  who  could  in  nowise  obtain  medical 
aid  died,  "unknelled,  uncoffined  and  unknown."  I  have  in  no- 
wise drawn  on  the  imagination,  and  the  facts  as  stated  can  be 
attested  by  the  staff  of  medical  officers  who  labored  at  the  Elmira 
prison  for  the  Rebel  soldiers. 

Ex-Medical  Officer  United  States  Army. 

We  could  multiply  such  statements  as  are  given  above  almost 
indefinitely. 

We  have  the  diary  of  the  prison  experience  of  Rev.  L.  W.  Allen 
(a  prominent  Baptist  minister  of  Virginia),  the  diary  of  Captain 
.  Robert  E.  Park,  of  Georgia,  the  narrative  of  Benjamin  Dashiels,  of 
Colonel  Snowden  Andrews'  Maryland  Artillery,  who  was  most  in- 
humanly punished  at  Fort  Delaware  for  refusing  to  give  the  names 
of  friends  in  Maryland  who  were  secretly  ministering  to  the  suffer- 
ing prisoners,  and  a  number  of  other  MSS.,  which  all  go  to  prove 
the  points  we  have  made.  Indeed,  it  would  be  a  very  easy  task  to 
compile  from  MSS.  in  our  possession  several  large  volumes  on  the 
cruelties  of  Federal  prisons.  But  we  cannot  now  go  into  this  sub- 
ject more  fully.  Nor  can  we  now  even  touch  upon  the  cruelties 
practiced  towards  civil  prisoners  who  were  arrested  by  the  United 
States  authorities  on  mere  suspicion,  and  treated  with  the  utmost 
rigor  without  even  the  forms  of  a  trial. 

We  have  on  our  shelves  no  less  than  eiglit  volumes  giving  de- 
tailed accounts  of  these  false  imprisonments,  besides  a  number  of 
MS.  accounts,  and  we  may  at  some  future  time  let  our  readers  hear 
"  the  tinkk  of  Mr.  Seward's  little  bell." 

But  we  cannot  now  give  more  space  to  the  treatment  received  by 
-Confederates  in  Northern  prisons.  We  think  we  have  fairly  met 
Mr.  Blaine's  "  issue,"  and  that  we  have  shown  by  incontrovertible 
testimony  that  Confederate  prisoners  we?-e  cruelly  treated  in  Northern 
prisons,  and  that  they  did  not  "  receive  the  same  rations  and 
clothing  as  Union  soldiers."  And  we  have  traced  this  cruel  treat- 
ment directly  to  the  Federal  authorities  who  were  constantly 
slandering  the  Confederate  Government. 

We  now  pass  to  a  further  discussion  of  the  ■ 

exchange  question,  " 

for  after  all  this  is  the  real  gist  of  the  wliole  matter.     The  Govern- 


Tixatment  of  Prisoners  Diiring  the  War,  299 

ment  that  is  responsible  for  the  failure  to  exchange  prisoners  is 
really  responsible  for  the  suffering  which  ensued  on  both  sides. 

We  think  we  have  already  proven  that  this  responsibility  rests 
with  the  authorities  at  Washington;  but  we  will  strengthen -the 
proof  still  further.  We  have  published  the  cartel  agreed  upon  on 
the  22d  of  July,  1862,  and  have  called  attention  to  the  fact  that  a 
strict  observance  of  its  terms  would  have  released  all  prisoners  on 
both  sides  within  ten  days  of  their  capture. 

Where  difficulties  arose  in  reference  to  particular  classes  of 
prisoners,  the  cartel  provided  that  these  should  be  passed  by  until 
they  could  be  adjusted,  and  the  cartel  continue  in  force  as  to  other 
prisoners.  This  xoas  dons  so  long  as  the  Confederates  held  the  excess  of 
prisoners. 

■  Soon  after  the  signing  of  the  cartel,  a  correspondence  ensued, 
which  would  unquestionably  have  stopped  all  exchange  of  pris- 
oners had  the  Confederates  not  held  a  large  excess  of  prisoners.  The 
following 

LETTER   FROM   GENERAL   LEE 

clearly  sets  forth  the  ])oints  at  issue  : 

[Copy.] 

Headquakters  Army  of  the  Confederate  States, 
Near  Richmond,  Virginia,  August  2,  18G2. 

To  ilie  General  Commanding  United  States  Army.,  Washington : 

General — In  obedience  to  the  order  of  his  Excellency,  the 
President. of  the  Confederate  States,  I  have  the  honor  to  make  to 
you  the  following  communication: 

On  the  22d  of  July  last  a  cartel  for  a  general  exchange  of  pri- 
soners of  war  was  signed  by  Major-General  John  A.  Dix,  on  behalf 
of  the  United  States,  and  by  Major-General  D.  H.  Hill,  on  the  part 
of  this  Government.  By  the  terms  of  that  cartel  it  is  stipulated 
that  all  prisoners  of  war  hereafter  taken  shall  be  discharged  on 
parole  until  exchanged. 

Scarcely  had  the  cartel  been  signed  when  the  military  authorities 
of  the  United  States  commenced  a  practice  changing  the  character 
of  the  war  from  such  as  becomes  civilized  nations  into  a  campaign 
of  indiscriminate  robbery  and  murder. 

A  general  order,  issued  by  the  Secretarj^  of  War  of  the  United 
States,  in  the  city  of  Washington,  on  the  very  day  that  the  cartel 
was  signed  in  Virginia,  directs  the  military  commander  of  the 
United  States  to  take  the  property  of  our  people  for  the  convenience 
and  use  of  the  army,  witliout  compensation. 

A  general  order,  issued  by  Major-General  Pope  on  the  23d  of  July 
last,  the  day  after  the  date  of  the  cartel,  directs  the  murder  of  our 


300  Southern  Historical  Society  Papers. 

peaceful  citizens  as  spies,  if  found  quietly  tilling  their  farms  in  his 
rear,  even  outside  of  his  lines. 

And  one  of-  his  Brigadier-Generals,  Steinwehr,  has  seized  inno- 
cent and  peaceful  inhabitants  to  be  held  as  hostages,  to  the  end  that 
they  may  be  murdered  in  cold  blood  if  any  of  his  soldiers  are 
killed  by  some  unknown  j)ersons,  whom  he  designated  as  "  bush- 
whackers." 

Some  of  the  military  authorities  of  the  United  States  seem  to 
suppose  that  their  end  will  be  better  attained  by  a  savage  war,  in 
which  no  quarter  is  to  be  given  and  no  age  or  sex  to  be  spared, 
than  by  such  hostilities  as  are  alone  recognized  to  be  lawful  in 
modern  times.  We  find  ourselves  driven  by  our  enemies,  by  steady 
progress,  towards  a  practice  whicli  we  abhor,  and  which  we  are 
vainly  struggling  to  avoid. 

Under  these  circumstances  this  Government  has  issued  the  ac- 
companying general  order,  which  I  am  directed  by  the  President 
to  transmit  to  3"ou,  recognizing  Major-General  Pope  and  his  com- 
missioned officers  to  be  in  a  position  which  they  have  chosen  for 
themselves — that  of  robbers  and  murderers,  and  not  that  of  public 
enemies,  entitled,  if  captured,  to  be  treated  as  prisoners  of  war. 

The  President  also  instructs  me  to  inform  you  that  we  renounce 
our  right  of  retaliation  on  the  innocent,  and  will  continue  to  treat 
the  private  enlisted  soldiers  of  General  Pope's  army  as  prisoners  of 
war;  but  if' after  notice  to  your  Government  that  we  confine  re- 
pressive measures  to  the  punishment  of  commissioned  officers,  who 
are  willing  participants  in  these  crimes,  the  savage  practices  threa- 
tened in  the  orders  alluded  to,  be  persisted  in,  we  shall  reluctantly 
be  forced  to  the  last  resort  of  accepting  the  war  on  the  terms  chosen 
by  our  enemies,  until  the  voice  of  an  outraged  humanity  shall 
compel  a  respect  for  the  recognized  usages  of  war. 

While  the  President  considers  that  the  facts  referred  to  would 
justify  a  refusal  on  our  part  to  execute  the  cartel,  by  which  we 
have  agreed  to  liberate  an  excess  of  prisoners  of  war  in  our  hands, 
a  sacred  regard  for  plighted  faith,  which  shrinks  from  the  semblance 
of  breaking  a  promise,  precludes  a  resort  to  sucli  an  extremity. 
Nor  is  it  his  desire  to  extend  to  any  other  forces  of  the  United 
States  the  punishment  merited  by  General  Pope  and  such  com- 
missioned officers  as  choose  to  participate  in  the  execution  of  his 
infamous  orders. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be,  verv  respectfully  your  obedient  servant, 
(Signed)  '  R.  E.  Lee,  \ 

General  Commanding. 

Adjutant  and  Inspector  General's  Office, 
Kicluuoiul,  August  1,  1862. 
General  Orders.,  No.  54. 

I.  The  following  orders  are  published  for  the  information  and 
observance  of  all  concerned  : 

II.  Whereas,  by  a  general  order,  dated  the  22d  July,  18G2,  issued 


Treatment  of  Prisoners  During  the  War.  301 

by  the  Secretary  of  War  of  the  United  States,  under  the  order  of 
the  President  of  the  United  States,  the  mihtary  commanders  of  that 
Government  within  the  States  of  Virginia,  South  Carolina,  Georgia, 
Florida,  Alabama,  Mississippi,  Louisiana,  Texas  and  Arkansas,  are 
directed  to  seize  and  use  any  property,  real  or  personal,  belonging 
to  the  inhabitants  of  this  Confederacy,  which  may  be  necessary  or 
convenient  for  their  several  commands,  and  no  provision  is  made 
_  for  any  compensation  to  the  owners  of  private  property  thus  seized 
and  appropriated  by  the  military  commanders  of  the  enemy: 

III.  And  whereas,  by  General  Order,  No.  11,  issued  on  the  23d 
July,  l'S62,  by  Major-General  Pope,  commanding  the  forces  of  the 
enemy  in  Northern  Virginia,  it  is  ordered  that  all  "commanders 
of  army  corps,  divisions,  brigades  and  detached  .  commands,  will 
proceed  immediately  to  arrest  all  disloyal  male  citizens  within  their 
Tines  or  within  their  reach,  in  rear  of  their  respective  commands. 
Such  as  are  willing  to  take  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  United 
States,  and  will  furnish  sufficient  security  for  its  observance,  shall 
be  permitted  to  remain  at  their  homes  and  pursue  in  good  faith 
their  accustomed  avocations.  Those  who  refuse  shall  be  conducted 
South,  beyond  the  extreme  pickets  of  this  army,  and  be  notified 
that  if  found  again  anywhere  within  our  lines,  or  at  any  point  in 
rear,  the}^  will  be  considered  spies,  and  subjected  to  the  extreme 
rigor  of  military  law.  If  any  person,  having  taken  the  oath  of  alle- 
giance as  above  specified,  be  found  to  have  violated  it,  he  shall  be 
shot,  and  his  property  seized  and  applied  to  the  public  use": 

IV.  And  whereas,  by  an  order  issued  on  the  13th  July,  1862,  by 
Brigadier-General  A.  Steinwehr,  Major  William  Steadman,  a  cavalry 
officer  of  his  brigade,  has  been  ordered  to  arrest  five  of  the  most 
prominent  citizens  of  Page  county,  Virginia,  to  be  held  as  hostages, 
and  to  suffer  death  in  the  event  of  any  of  the  soldiers  of  said  Stein- 
wehr being  shot  by  "bushwhackers,"  by  which  term  are  meant  the 
citizens  of  this  Confederacy  who  have  taken  up  arms  to  defend  their 
homes  and  families : 

V.  And  whereas  it  results  from  the  above  orders  that  some  of 
the  military  authorities  of  the  United  States,  not  content  Vv'ith  the 
unjust  and  aggressive  warfare  hitherto  waged  with  savage  cruelty 
against  an  unoffending  people,  and  exasperated  by  the  failure  of 
their  effort  to  subjugate  them,  have  now  determined  to  violate  all 
the  rules  and  usages  of  war,  and  to  convert  the  hostilities  hitherto 
waged  against  armed  forces  into  a  campaign  of  robbery  and  murder 
against  unarmed  citizens  and  peaceful  tillers  of  the  soil: 

VI.  And  whereas  this  Government,  bound  by  the  highest  obli- 
gations of  duty  to  its  citizens,  is  thus  driven  to  the  necessity  of 
adopting  just  such  measures  of  retribution  and  retaliation  as  shall 
seem  adequate  to  repress  and  punish  these  barbarities ;  and  whereas 
the  orders  above  recited  have  only  been  published  and  made  known 
to  this  Government  since  the  signature  of  a  cartel  for  exchange  of 
prisoners  of  war,  which  cartel,  in  so  far  as  it  provides  for  an  exchange 
of  prisoners  hereafter  captured,  would  never  have  been  signed  or 


302  Southern  Historical  Society  Papers. 

agreed  to  by  this  Governmentif  the  intention  to  chcange  the  war  into  a 
system  of  indiscriminate  murder  and  robbery  had  been  known  to 
it;  and  whereas  a  just  regard  to  humanity  forbids  that  the  repres- 
sion of  crime  which  this  Government  is  thus  compelled  to  enforce 
should  be  unnecessarily  extended  to  retaliation  on  the  enlisted 
men  in  the  army  of  the  United  States,  who  may  be  the  unwilling 
instruments  of  the  savage  cruelty  of  their  commanders,  so  long  as 
there  is  hope  that  the  excesses  of  the  enemy  may  be  checked  or 
prevented  by  retribution  on  the  commissioned  officers,  who  have 
the  power  to  avoid  guilty  action,  by  refusing  service  under  a  Gov- 
ernment which  seeks  their  aid  in  the  perpetration  of  such  infamous 
barbarities : 

VII.  Therefore,  it  is  ordered  that  Major-General  Pope,  Brigadier- 
General  Steinwehr,  and  all  commissioned  officers  serving  under 
their  respective  commands,  be  and  they  are  hereby  expressly,  and 
specially  declared  to  be  not  entitled  to  be  considered  as  soldiers, 
and  therefore  not  entitled  to  the  benefit  of  the  cartel  for  the  parole 
of  future  prisoners  of  war.  Ordered,  further,  that  in  the  event  of 
the  capture  of  Major-General  Pope  or  Brigadier-General  Steinwehr, 
or  of  any  commissioned  officers  serving  under  them,  the  captive  so 
taken  shall  be  held  in  close  confinement  so  long  as  the  orders  afore- 
said shall  continue  in  force  and  unrepealed  by  the  competent  mili- 
tary authorities  of  the  United  States;  and  that  in  the  event  of  the 
murder  of  any  unarmed  citizen  or  inhabitant  of  this  Confederacy 
by  virtue  or  under  pretext  of  any  of  the  orders  hereinbefore  recited, 
whether  with  or  without  trial,  whether  under  pretence  of  such  cit- 
izen being  a  spy  or  hostage,  or  any  other  pretence,  it  shall  be  the 
duty  of  the  Commanding  General  of  the  forces  of  this  Confederacy 
to  cause  immediately  to  be  hung,  out  of  the  commissioned  officers, 
prisoners  as  aforesaid,  a  number  equal  to  the  number  of  our  own 
citizens  thus  murdered  by  the  enemy. 

By  order,  S.  Cooper, 

Adjutant  and  Inspector  General. 


Now  here  was  a  fine  opportunity  for  the  authorities  at  Wash- 
ington to  stop  the  cartel  and  charge  the  "  Rebels  "  with  bad  laith. 
They  would  doubtless  have  done  so  had  we  not  held  the  excess  of 
prisoners;  but  they  simply  indulged  in  a  little  high  rhetoric,  con- 
tinued the  cartel,  and  caused  Pope  to  cease  his  high-handed 
outrages.  And  so  the  cartel  continued  until  July,  1863 — the  Fed- 
eral authorities  frequently  violating  its  provisions,  and  the  Con- 
federates carrying  them  out  to  the  letter. 

The  Report  of  Judge  Ould,  our  Commissioner  of  Exchange,  of 
December,  1863,  and  the  accompanying  documents,  fully  sustain 
this  allegation,  and  we  regret  that  our  space  will  not  allow  us  to 
give  these  documents  in  full. 


Treatment  of  Prisoners  During  the  War.  303' 

We  give  the  preliminary  report,  which  indicates  the  points. 
made : 

COMMISSIONER   OULD's   EEPORT. 

Confederate  States  of  America, 
War  DEPARTaiENT, 
RichmoiLcl,  Virginia,  December  5th,  1863. 

Hon.  James  A.  Seddon,  Secretary  of  War  : 

Sir — I  have  the  honor  to  submit  the  accompanying  corre- 
spondence between  the  Federal  Agent  of  Exchange  and  myself: 

I  have  selected  from  the  mass  of  correspondence,  such  letters  as 
relate  to  matters  of  general  interest,  and  especially  to  the  subjects 
of  controversy  between  us. 

1.  Papers  from  one  to  twelve,  inclusive,  relate  the  arrest  and  de- 
tention of  non-combatants.  The  Federal  authorities  have  persist- 
ently refused  to  observe  any  reciprocal  rule  as  to  such  parties. 
Their  military  commanders  seem  to  have  been  permitted  to  make 
arrests  of  non-combatants  without  regard  to  their  age,  sex  or  situa- 
tion. After  arrest,  they  have  been  thrown  into  prison  and  there 
indefinitely  retained,  in  most  cases,  without  charges.  I  have  per- 
sistently contended  that  the  whole  subject  of  their  capture  of 
non-combatants,  should  be  determined  by  rule,  and  not  by  arbitrary 
practice.  This  reasonable  proposal,  not  receiving  the  assent  of  the 
enemy,  the  Confederate  authorities  have  been  forced,  in  some 
instances,  to  retain  Federal  non-combatants  as  a  measure  of  re- 
taliation. 

2.  Papers  from  thirteen  to  sixteen,  inclusive,  relate  to  the  retention 
of  exchanged  and  unexchanged  officers  and  men.  There  are 
officers  and  men  now  in  Federal  prisons,  who  have  been  there  ever  . 
since  the  adoption  of  the  cartel.  I  have  brought  to  the  attention 
of  the  United  States  authorities  again  and  again  the  names  of  some 
of  the  parties  who  were  confined  in  violation  of  the  exchange 
agreements.  In  some  cases,  after  long  delay,  the  parties  were  re- 
leased.    Others,  however,  are  still  languishing  in  confinement. 

3.  Papers  from  seventeen  to  forty,  inclusive,  relate  to  the  general 
orders  of  the  enemy  and  their  connection  with  declarations  of  ex- 
change. So  anxious  has  the  Confederate  Government  been  to  remove 
all  obstacles  to  a  general  exchange  of  prisoners,  that  when  the 
computation  and  adjustment  of  paroles  was  made  a  subject  of 
difficulty  by  the  enemy,  we  promptly  agreed  to  determine  the 
whole  matter  in  accordance  with  the  general  orders,  issued  at 
Washington.  This  very  liberal  proposition  has  not  been  accepted 
by  the  Federal  authorities,  I  have,  however,  by  virtue  of  the  pro- 
visions of  the  cartel,  proceeded  to  make  declarations  of  exchange, 
upon  the  basis  of  those  general  orders.  In  those  declarations  of 
exchange,  I  have  not  exceeded  the  valid  paroles,  which  are  on  file 
in  my  office.  The  reply  of  the  Federal  agent  to  my  letter  of 
October  31st,  1863,  was  so  personally  offensive,  that  I  was  compelled 
to  return  it  to  him  without  any  answer. 


304  Southern  Historical  Society  Papers. 

4.  Papers  from  forty-one  to  forty-seven,  inclusive,  relate  to  the 
confinement  of  General  John  H.  Morgan  and  his  officers  in  the 
penitentiary,  at  Columbus,  Ohio.  Though  the  Federal  agent  on 
the  30th  of  July,  1863,  notified  me  that  General  John  H.  Morgan 
and  his  officers  would  be  placed  in  close  confinement,  he  informed 
me  two  months  afterwards,  that  "the United  States  authorities  had 
nothing  to  do  with  the  treatment  that  General  Morgan  and  his  com- 
mand received  when  imprisoned  at  Columbus." 

5.  Papers  from  forty-eight  to  fifty-seven,  inclusive,  relate  to  the 
detention  of  surgeons.  Before  the  date  of  the  cartel,  surgeons  were 
unconditionally  released  after  capture.  That  rule  was  first  adopted 
by  the  Confederate  commanders,  and  was  subsequently  followed  by 
the  Federals.  Some  time  ago,  one  Rucker  was  indicted  by  a  grand 
jury  in  Virginia,  for  several  felonies.  Although  Rucker  was  never 
a  surgeon  in  the  Federal  service,  the  enemy  held  Surgeon  Green  of 
the  Confederate  navy,  in  retaliation.  This  caused  retaliation  on 
our  part,  in  return,  and  surgeons  were  afterwards  held  in  captivity 
on  both  sides.  In  this  instance,  the  Federal  authorities  proved 
■that  they  were  ready  to  sacrifice  their  own  medical  officers  in  an 
endeavour  to  secure  the  release  of  a  felon  in  no  way  connected 
with  their  medical  service.  Rucker  having  recently  escaped  from 
jail,  the  surgeons  on  both  sides  have  been  released. 

6.  Papers  from  fifty-eight  to  sixty-three,  inclusive,  relate  to  persons 
captured  upon  our  rivers  and  the  high  seas.-  By  agreement  made  ^ 
with  the  Federal  Agent  of  Exchange,  all  such  who  were  captured 
before  December  10th,  1862,  were  declared  exchanged.  In  spite  of 
that  agreement,  some  of  our  pilots  and  sea  captains  were  kept  in 
confinement.  The  correspondence  will  fully  show  the  refusal  of 
the  Federal  authorities  to  adopt  any  fair  and  reciprocal  rule,  as  to 
the  further  exchange  of  such  persons. 

7.  Papers  numbered  sixty-four  and  sixty-five,  show  the  preten- 
sions of  the  enemy  as  to  such  persons  as  have  been  tried  under  the 
laws  of  a  sovereign  State  for  offences  against  the  same. 

8.  Papers  from  sixty-six  to  seventy -two,  inclusive,  embrace  all 
the  correspondence  in  which  General  E.  A.  Hitchcock  has  borne  a 
part.  It  seems  there  are  two  commissioners  of  exchange  on  the 
part  of  the  Federal  Government.  How  far  the  authority  of  each 
extends,  or  how  far  one  is  subordinate  to  the  other,  has  not  as  yet 
clearly  appeared.  The  future  may,  perhaps,  explain  that  they  may 
be  put  to  separate  uses.  The  last  letter  of  General  Hitchcock,  bear- 
ing date  November  23d,  1863,  I  returned,  with  the  following  en- 
dorsement, to  wit:  "  Protesting  that  the  statement  of  facts  contained 
in  this  paper  is  incorrect,  I  return  it  to  its  author  as  unfit  to  be 
either  written  or  received." 

With  this  brief  notice  of  the  correspondence,  I  respectfully  sub- 
mit it  as  my  report. 

Respectfully, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

Ro,  OuLD,  Agent  of  Exchange. 


Treatment  of  Prisoners  During  the  War.  305 

We  can  only  cull  a  letter  or  two  from  this  correspondence,  which 
we  hope  some  day  to  publish  in  full  as  a  triumphant  vindication 
of  the  course  of  our  authorities  : 

lieutenant-colonel  ludlow  to  mr.  ould. 

Headquabters  Department  of  Virginia, 
Seventh  Army  Corps, 
Fort  Monroe,  Virginia,  April  8, 18G3. 

Hon.  Robert  Ould,  Agent  for  Exchange  of  Pi-isoners  : 

Sir — The  best  mode  of  arranging  all  questions  relating  to 
exchange  of  officers,  is  to  revoke,  formally  or  informally,  the 
offensive  proclamation  relating  to  our  officers. 

I  simply  ask  that  you  say,  by  authority,  that  such  proclamation 
is  revoked.  The  spirit  of  that  proclamation  was  the  infliction  of 
personal  indignities  upon  our  officers,  and  as  long  as  it  remains 
unrepealed,  it  can  be  at  any  moment  put  in  force  by  your  authori- 
ties.    What  assurance  have  we  that  it  will  not  be? 

I  earnestly  desire  a  return  to  the  cartel  in  all  matters  pertaining 
to  officers,  and  until  such  be  the  case,  and  uniformity  of  rule  be 
thereby  established,  our  exchanges  of  officers  must  be  special. 
Some  of  our  officers,  paroled  at  Vicksburg,  were  subsequently 
placed  in  close  confinement,  and  are  now  so  held.  If,  hereafter, 
we  parole  any  of  your  officers,  such  paroles  will  be  offset  against 
any  which  you  may  possess.  At  present  the  exchanges  will  be 
confined  to  such  equivalents  as  are  held  in  confinement  on  either 
side. 

I  hope  you  will  soon  be  able  to  remove  all  difficulties  about 
!  officers  by  the  revocation  I  have  mentioned. 

!  By  reference  to  the  map,  you  will  see  tha't  Fort  Delaware  is  en 
route  to  Fort  Monroe.  It  is  used  as  a  depot  for  the  collecting  of 
prisoners,  sent  from  other  places  for  shipment  here,  and  is,  from 
its  peculiar  position,  "well  adapted  for  convenience  for  exchanged 

If  any  mistake  be  found   in  the  account  of  men   paroled  by 
Lieutenant-Colonel  Richards,  at  Oxford,  Mississippi,  on  the  22d 
of  December,  1862,  it  can  be  rectified  when  we  meet. 
I  am,  very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

Wm.  H.  Ludlow, 
Lieutenant- Colonel  and  Agent  for  Exchange  of  Prisoners. 

MR.   OULD   TO   lieutenant-colonel   LUDLOW. 

Richmond,  April  lltli,  1863. 
Lieutenant-Colonel  William  H.  Ludlow,  Agent  of  Exchange : 

Sir-^-Your  letters  of  the  8th  instant  have  been  received, 
I  am  very  much  surprised  at  your  refusal  to  deliver  officers  for 
Ithose  of  your  own  who  have  been  captured,  paroled,  and  released 
by  us  since  the  date  of  the  proclamation  and  message  of  President 
6 


306  Southern  Historical  Society  Papers. 

Davis  That  refusal  is  not  only  a  flagrant  breach  of  the  cartel, 
but  can  be  supported  by  no  rule  of  reciprocity  or  equity.  It  is 
utterly  useless  to  argue  any  such  matter.  I  assure  you  that  not 
one  officer  of  any  grade  will  be  delivered  to  you  until  you  change 
your  purpose  in  that  respect. 

You  have  charged  us  with  breaking  the  cartel.  With  what  sort 
of  justice  can  that  allegation  be  supported,  when  you  delivered 
only  a  few  days  ago  over  ninety  officers,  most  of  whom  had  been 
forced  to  languish  and  suffer  in  prisons  for  months  before  we  were 
compelled  by  that  and  other  reasons  to  issue  the  retaliatory  order 
of  which  you  complain?  Those  ninety-odd  are  not  one-half  ot 
tho'^e  whom  you  unjustly  hold  in  prison.  On  the  other  hand,  i 
defv  vou  to  name  the  case  of  one  who  is  confined  by  us,  whom 
our  agreement  has  declared  exchanged.  Is  it  your  idea  that  we 
are  to  be  bound  by  every  strictness  of  the  cartel,  while  you  are  at 
libertv  to  violate  it  for  months,  and  that,  too,  not  only  m  a  tew 
instances,  but  in  hundreds?  You  know  that  our  refusal  to  parole 
officers  was  a  matter  exclusively  of  retaliation.  It  was  based  only 
upon  your  refusal  to  observe  the  requirements  of  the  cartel.  All 
that  you  had  to  do  to  remove  the  obnoxious  measure  of  retaliation, 
was  to  observe  the  provisions  of  the  cartel  and  redress  the  wrongs 
which  had  been  perpetrated. 

Your  last  resolution,  if  persisted  m,  settles  the  matter.  _  \ou 
need  not  send  any  officers  to  City  Point  with  the  expectation  ol 
gettincr  an  equivalent  in  officers,  so  long  as  you  refuse  to  dehver 
any  fo^'r  those  whom  we  have  released  on  parole  m  Tennessee  and 
Kentucky.  If  captivity,  privation,  and  misery  are  to  be  the  tate 
of  officers  on  both  sides  hereafter,  let  God  judge  between  us.  I 
have  struggled  in  this  matter,  as  if  it  had  been  a  matter  of  life  and 
death  to  me.     I  am  heartsick  at  the  termination,  but  I  have  no 

self  reproaches.  ,    -,.     . 

Respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

Robert  Ould, 
Agent  of  Exchange. 

Judge  Ould  thus  closes  his  correspondence  with  Colonel  Ludlow  : 

MR.    OULD   TO   LIEUTENANT-COLONEL   LUDL0"\V. 

Confederate  States  of  America, 
War  Department, 
Richmond,  Vii-giniu,  July  26,  1863. 

Colonel  William  H.  Ludlow,  Agent  of  Exclange  : 

Sir_Your  communication  of  the  22d  contests  my  declara- 
tion of  exchanges  of  officers  made  on  the  17th  instant.  \  ou  say 
"the  cartel  provides  for  the  exchange  of  equal  ranks,  until  such 
are  exhausted,  and  then  for  equivalents."  If  you  had  been  at 
Fortress  Monroe,  where  you  could  have  seen  the  cartel,  instead  ot 
Kew  York,  from  which  your  letter  is  dated,  you  would  liave  written 


Treatment  of  Prisoners  During  the  War.  307 

no  such  paragraph.  There  is  nothing  in  the  cartel  which  contains 
any  such  doctrine,  or  which  favors  it.  Every  provision  is  against 
it.  Your  own  and  my  practice  have  been  opposed  to  it.  I  again 
say  to  you  what  I  have  ah'eady  stated  in  my  communication  of 
the  17th  instant,  that  your  assent  is  not  needed  to  the  declared  ex- 
change, and  I  shall  not  notify  the  officers,  whom  I  have  declared 
exchanged,  as  you  request.  I  have  allowed  you  to  declare  ex- 
changes when  the  number  of  prisoners  in  our  hands  has  been  the 
greater.  This  has  been  the  case  from  the  day  when  we  first  met 
in  the  fall  of  last  year,  to  the  capture  at  Vicksburg.  Now,  when 
you  have  scarcely  received  official  advices  of  your  superiority  in 
prisoners,  you  boast  of  the  fact,  and  declare  that  I  cannot  give  an 
equivalent  for  the  general  officers  I  have  declared  exchanged.  The 
point  you  make  is  worth  nothing,  even  as  you  have  stated  it.  You 
know  we  have  no  lieutenant-generals  or  major-generals  of  yours 
in  our  hands.  For  that  reason  I  have  declared  them  exchanged 
in  privates  or  inferior  officers  at  your  election.  I  had  the  right, 
under  the  cartel,  to  make  the  choice  myself,  but  I  preferred  that 
you  should  do  it,  and  therefore,  I  gave  you  the  notification  which 
I  did.  If,  at  any  time,  you  present  officers  for  exchange  who  have 
been  paroled,  and  we  have  no  officers  of  similar  rank  on  parole, 
you  can  declare  their  exchange  in  privates.  If,  at  this  time,  you 
have  any  officers  of  the  rank  I  have  declared  exchanged,  or  of  any 
other  rank,  or  if  you  have  any  particular  organization  of  privates 
or  non-commissioned  officers  whom  you  wish  exchanged,  you  have 
only  to  state  such  fact  and  your  selection  will  be  approved.  If 
you  hold  the  paroles  of  our  officers  of  an}^  rank  as  you  state,  you 
have  only  to  present  them,  and  whatever  is  in  our  hands,  whether 
on  parole  or  in  captivity,  will  be  freely  given  in  exchange  for  them. 
You  say  you  have  again  and  again  invited  me  to  a  return  to  the 
cartel.  Now  that  our  official  connection  is  being  terminated,  I  say 
to  you  in  the  fear  of  God — and  I  appeal  to  Him  for  the  truth  of 
the  declaration — that  there  has  been  no  single  moment,  from  the 
time  when  we  were  first  brought  together  in  connection  with  the 
matter  of  exchange  to  the  present  hour,  during  which  there  has 
not  been  an  open  and  notorious  violation  of  the  cartel  by  your 
authorities.  Officers  and  men,  numbering  over  hundreds,  have 
been,  during  your  whole  connection  with  the  cartel,  kept  in  cruel 
confinement,  sometimes  in  irons,  or  doomed  to  cells,  without 
charges  or  trial.  They  are  in  prison  now,  unless  God,  in  His  mercy, 
has  released  them.  In  our  parting  moments,  let  me  do  you  the 
justice  to  say  that  I  do  not  believe  it  is  so  much  your  fault  as  that 
of  your  authorities.  Nay  more,  I  believe  your  removal  from  your 
position  has  been  owing  to  the  personal  efforts  you  have  made  for 
a  faithful  observance,  not  only  of  the  cartel,  but  of  humanity  in 
the  conduct  of  the  war. 

Again  and  again  have  I  importuned  you  to  tell  me  of  one  officer 
or  man  now  held  in  confinement  by  us,  who  was  declared  ex- 
changed.    You  have,  to  those   appeals,  furnished   one — Spencer 


308  Southern  Historical  Society  Papers. 

Kellog.  For  him  I  have  searched  in  vain.  On  the  other  hand,  I 
appeal  to  your  own  records  for  the  cases  where  your  reports  have 
shown  that  our  officers  and  men  have  been  held  for  long  months 
and  even  years  in  violation  of  the  cartel  and  our  agreements.  The 
last  phase  of  the  enormity,  however,  exceeds  all  others.  Although 
you  have  many  thousands  of  our  soldiers  now  in  confinement  in 
3''our  prisons,  and  especially  in  that  horrible  hold  of  death.  Fort 
Delaware,  you  have  not,  for  several  weeks,  sent  us  any  prisoners. 
During  those  weeks  you  have  dispatched  Captain  Mulford  with 
the  steamer  New  York  to  City  Point,  three  or  four  times,  without 
any  prisoners.  For  the  first  two  or  three  times  some  sort  of  an 
excuse  was  attempted.  None  is  given  at  this  present  arrival.  I  do 
not  mean  to  be  offensive  when  I  say  that  effrontery  could  not  give 
one.  I  ask  you  with  no  purpose  of  disrespect,  what  can  you 
think  of  this  covert  attempt  to  secure  the  delivery  of  all  your 
prisoners  in  our  hands,  without  the  release  of  those  of  ours  who 
are  languishing  in  hopeless  misery  in  your  prisons  and  dungeons  ? 
Respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

Robert  Ould, 
Agent  0/  Exchange. 

Though  there  were  these  difficulties  in  reference  to  exchange, 
and  these  evasions  and  violations  of  the  cartel  by  the  Federal 
authorities,  the  paroles  given  captured  prisoners  were  respected 
until  July,  1863,  when  the  following  order  was  issued  by  the 
Federal  Secretary  of  War : 

Wae  Department, 
Adjutant-General's  Office, 
Washington,  July  3,  18G3. 
General  Orders  No.  209. 

1.  The  attention  of  all  persons  in  the  military  service  of  the 
United  States  is  called  to  article  7  of  the  cartel  agreed  upon  July 
22d,  1862,  and  published  in  General  Oorders  No.  142,  September 
25th,  1862.  According  to  the  terms  of  this  cartel  all  captures  must 
be  reduced  to  actual  possession,  and  all  prisoners  of  war  must  be 
delivered  at  the  places  designated,  there  to  be  exchanged  or  paroled 
until  exchange  can  be  effected.  The  only  exception  allowed  is  the 
case  of  commanders  of  two  opposing  armies,  who  were  authorized 
to  exchange  prisoners  or  to  release  them  on  parole  at  other  points 
mutually  agreed  upon  by  said  commanders. 

2.  It  is  understood  that  captured  officers  and  men  have  been 
paroled  and  released  in  the  field  by  others  than  commanders  of 
opposing  armies,  and  that  the  sick  and  wounded  in  hospitals  have 
been  so  paroled  and  released  in  order  to  avoid  guarding  and  re- 
moving them,  which  in  many  cases  would  have  been  impossible. 
Such  paroles  are  in  violation  of  general  orders  and  the  stipulations 
of  the  cartel,  and  are  null  and  void.  The}'-  are  not  regarded  by  the 
enemy,  and  will  not  be  respected  by  the  armies  of  the  United 


Treatment  of  Prisoners  During  the  War.  309 

States.  Any  officer  or  soldier  who  gives  such  parole  will  be  returned 
to  duty  without  exchange,  and,  moreover,  will  be  punished  for 
disobedience  of  orders.  It  is  the  duty  of  the  captor  to  guard  his 
prisoners,  and  if  through  necessity  or  choice  he  fails  to  do  this,  it 
is  the  duty  of  the  prisoner  to  return  to  the  service  of  his  Govern- 
ment. He  cannot  avoid  this  duty  by  giving  an  unauthorized 
military  parole. 

3.  A  military  parole  not  to  serve  until  exchanged  must  not  be 
confounded  with  a  parole  of  honor  to  do  or  not  to  do  a  particular 
thing  not  inconsistent  with  the  duty  of  a  soldier ;  thus  a  prisoner 
of  war  actually  held  by  the  enemy  may,  in  order  to  obtain  exemp- 
tion from  a  close  guard  or  confinement,  pledge  his  parole  of  honor 
that  he  will  make  no  attempt  at  escape.  Such  pledges  are  binding 
upon  the  individuals  giving  them ;  but  they  should  seldom  be  given 
or  received,  for  it  is  the  duty  of  a  prisoner  to  escape  if  able  to  do 
so.  Any  pledge  or  parole  extorted  from  a  prisoner  by  ill  usage  is 
not  binding. 

4.  The  obligations  imposed  by  the  general  laws  and  usages  of 
war  upon  the  combatant  inhabitants  of  a  section  of  country  passed 
over  by"  an  invading  army  closes  when  the  military  occupation 
ceases,  and  any  pledge  or  parole  given  by  such  persons,  in  regard 
to  future  service,  is  null  and  of  no  effect. 

By  order  of  the  Secretary  of  war. 

[Signed]  E.  D.  Townsend,  A.  A.  G. 

Upon  this  order  General  J.  A.  Early,  in  a  recent  communication, 
makes  the  following  eminently  just  comments: 

It  is  very  manifest  that  that  order  was  issued  for  the  purpose  of 
embarrassing  General  Lee's  army  with  the  guarding  and  feeding 
of  the  prisoners,  amounting  to  several  thousand,  then  in  our  hands; 
and  in  consequence  of  the  order,  information  of  which  reached  us 
immediately,  General  Lee  sent  a  flag  of  truce  to  Meade  on  the  4th 
of  July,  after  the  close  of  the  battle,  with  a  proposition  to  exchange 
prisoners.  The  latter  declined  the  proposition,  alleging  a  want  of 
authority  to  make  the  exchange,  or,  from  his  own  views  of  policy, 
he  positively  declined  to  entertain  the  proposition ;  I  am  not  certain 
which. 

According  to  the  laws  of  war  in  the  earliest  ages  a  captive  in  war 
forfeited  his  life.  Subsequently,  in  the  cause  of  humanity,  the 
penalty  of  death  was  commuted  to  slavery  for  life;  and  this  con- 
tinued to  be  a  law  of  war  for  more  than  one-half  of  the  Christian 
era,  notwithstanding  it  has  been  so  often  said  that  slavery  disap- 
peared in  Europe  before  the  spirit  of  Christianity ;  in  fact,  it  was 
the  vast  number  of  captives  in  war  reduced  to  slavery  from  among 
the  Sclavi  or  Sclavonians,  in  the  eighth  century,  under  that  bul- 
wark of  the  Church,  Charlemagne,  that  caused  the  distinctive  and 
modern  appellation  of  "slaves"  to  be  applied  to  all  those  held  to 
involuntary  servitude.      In  the  age  of  chivalry,  when   knights- 


310  Southern  Historical  Society  Papers. 

errant,  and  more  especially  the  Crusaders,  wanted  money  more 
than  they  did  slaves,  they  sold  their  slaves  their  freedom ;  and  the 
practice  of  releasing  prisoners  for  a  ransom  was  resorted  to,  and 
continued  to  be  a  law  of  war  until  a  comparatively  modern  date, 
when,  with  the  growth  of  regular  armies,  the  practice  of  releasing 
prisoners  on  parole  became  a  recognized  rule  of  civilized  warfare 
among  Christian  nations.  It  has  never,  however,  been  a  law  of 
war  that  the  obligation  of  a  prisoner  to  observe  his  parole  depends 
upon  the  assent  of  his  own  Government;  but,  on  the  contrary,  the 
right  of  a  prisoner  to  obtain  his  release  from  captivity  by  giving 
his  parole  of  honor  not  to  serve  against  his  captors  until  exchanged 
or  otherwise  released  is  derived  from  the  fact  that  by  his  captivity 
he  is  placed  beyond  the  protection  of  his  Government,  and  there- 
fore has  the  right  to  provide  for  his  own  safety  by  giving  the  re- 
quisite pledge,  and  all  civilized  nations  recognize  the  binding  force 
of  that  pledge  or  parole. 

The  rule  is  laid  down  by  Vattel,  pp.  414  and  415,  as  follows : 

"Individuals,  whether  belonging  to  the  army  or  not,  who  happen 
singly  to  foll'in  with  the  enemy  are,  by  tlie  urgent  necessity  of  the 
circumstance,  left  to  their  own  discretion,  and  may,  so  far  as  con- 
cerns their  own  persons,  do  everything  which  a  commander  might 
do  with  respect  to  himself  and  the  troops  under  his  command.  If, 
therefore,  in  consequence  of  the  situation  in.  which  they  are  in- 
volved, they  make  any  promise,  such  promise  (provided  it  do  not 
extend  to  matters  which  can  never  lie  within  the  sphere  of  a  pri- 
vate individual)  is  valid  and  obligatory,  as  being  made  with  com- 
petent powers.  For,  when  a  subject  can  neither  receive  his  sover- 
eign's orders  nor  enjoy  his  protection,  he  resumes  his  natural 
rights,  and  is  to  provide  for  his  own  safety  by  any  just  and  honor- 
able means  in  his  power.  Hence,  if  that  individual  has  promised 
a  sum  for  his  ransom,  the  sovereign,  so  far  from  having  the  power 
to  discharge  him  from  his  promise,  should  oblige  him  to  fulfil  it. 

"Tlie  good  of  the  State  requires  that  faith  should  be  kept  on  such 
occasions,  and  that  subjects  should  have  this  mode  of  saving  their 
lives  or  recovering  their  liberty. 

"Thus,  a  prisoner  who  is  released  on  his  parole  is  bound  to  ob- 
serve it  with  scrupulous  punctuality,  nor  has  the  sovereign  a  right 
to  oppose  such  observance  of  his  engagement;  for  had  not  the  pri- 
soner thus  given  his  parole  he  would  not  have  been  released." 

The  same  doctrine  is  laid  down  by  publicists  generally. 

The  question  of  exchange  of  prisoners  is  a  matter  for  agreement 
between  the  opposing  powers,  but  the  question  of  the  parole  is  not. 
The  i^aroles  stipulated  for  in  the  cartel  of  July,  1862,  Avere  paroles 
with  a  view  to  subsequent  exchange,  and  the  stipulation  did  not 
create  the  right  of  a  prisoner  of  war  to  be  released  from  captivity 
on  his  parole ,  that  existed  prior  to  and  independent  of  the  cartel. 
It  existed  by  virtue  of  a  "higher  law"  [if  I  may  be  permitted  to 
use  a  phrase  so  much  in  vogue  in  former  times  among  those  who 
now  attach  so  much  importance  to  unwavering  fiidelity  to  the  Con- 


Treatment  of  Prisoners  During  the  War.  311 

stitution,  in  their  view  of  it],  than  an  order  from  the  Federal  Sec- 
retary of  War — the  law  of  self-preservation.  If  I  had  found  myself 
at  any  time  during  the  war  a  prisoner  in  the  hands  of  the  enemy, 
about  to  be  dragged  to  a  Northern  prison,  where  I  am  sure  con- 
finement for  a  very  short  time  would  have  killed  me  or  run  me 
mad,  and  my  captors  had  been  humane  enough  to  release  me  on 
my  parole  of  honor  not  to  serve  again  until  exchanged,  I  am  sure 
I  would  have  thought  my  Government  more  barbarous  than  the 
enemy  if  it  had  required  of  me  a  violation  of  my  parole  and  a  re- 
turn to  duty  without  exchange;  but  I  feel  confident  no  such  dis- 
honor would  ever  have  been  required  of  me  by  that  Government, 
for  I  do  know  that  the  paroles  of  some  of  mj'-  own  men,  captured 
at  Williamsburg  on  the  5th  of  May,  1862,  more  than  two  months 
Taefore  the  cartel  was  adopted,  and  for  special  reasons  paroled  with- 
in a  week  of  their  capture,  were  respected,  and  they  were  regularly 
exchanged. 

Mr.  Stanton,  in  issuing  the  order  of  the  3d  of  July,  1863,  violated 
the  laws  of  civilized  warfare,  and  the  statement  contained  therein 
that  the  Confederate  Government  ("the  enemy")  had  pursued  the 
same  course  was  a  mere  pretext  to  give  color  to  his  own  unwar- 
rantable act.  But  for  that  order  all  the  prisoners  captured  by  us 
at  Gettysburg,  amounting  to  fully  six  thousand,  would  have  been 
paroled;  and,  in  fact,  the  proper  staff  officers  were  proceeding  to 
parole  them,  and  had  actually  paroled  and  released  a  large  num- 
ber of  them,  when  the  news  came  of  the  order  referred  to.  Why 
•did  Mr.  Stanton  object  to  the  parolling  of  those  prisoners?  and  why 
did  he  prefer  that  they  should  be  confined  in  prisons  in  the  South — • 
"prison  pens,"  as  Northern  Republicans  are  pleased  to  call  them — 
rather  than  that  they  should  be  sent  to  their  own  homes  on  parole, 
there  to  remain  in  comfort  until  duly  exchanged,  if  it  was  not  to 
embarrass  the  Confederate  Government  with  the  custody  and  sup- 
port of  them,  regardless  of  any  consideration  for  their  health  or 
their  lives?  If  he  did  not  think  proper  to  exchange  Confederate 
prisoners  in  his  hands  for  them  he  could  have  refused  to  do  so ; 
and  certainly  their  presence  at  their  own  homes  could  have  done 
no  harm  to  his  cause;  most  assuredly  not  more  than  their  confine- 
ment in  a  prison,  in  a  climate  to  which  they  were  unaccustomed. 
If  the  rule  asserted  in  his  order  is  among  the  laws  and  usages  of 
war,  then  it  must  follow  that  if  General  Lee  had  not  been  able  to 
guard  or  feed  the  prisoners  in  his  hands  he  would  have  had  the 
right  to  resort  to  that  dread  alternative  to  which  the  first  Napoleon 
resorted  in  Egypt  when  he  found  the  paroles  granted  by  him  not 
respected,  and  destroy  the  prisoners  in  his  hands.  If  any  of  the 
prisoners  brought  from  Gettysburg,  or  subsequently  captured,  lost 
their  lives  at  Andersonville,  or  any  other  Southern  prison,  is  it  not 
palpable  that  the  resj)onsibility  for  their  deaths  rested  on  Edwin 
M.  Staunton? 

In  consequence  of  the  order  one  division  commander,  who  fell 
into  our  hands,  wounded,  whom  we  could  have  brought  off,  though 


312  Southern  Historical  Society  Pajjers. 

at  the  risk  of  his  life,  and  a  large  niimher  of  other  prisoners  who 
were  paroled  (two  or  three  thousand),  were  returned  to  duty  in  the 
Federal  army  v/ithout  exchange;  and  among  them  was  a  Colonel, 
who  pledged  his  honor  that  he  would  surrender  himself  and  his 
regiment  (paroled  at  the  same  time)  if  the  validity  of  the  parole 
was  not  recognized  by  his  Government. 

Unfortunately,  the  capture  of  Vickshurg  and  Port  Hudson,  and 
the  captures  at  Gettysburg,  now  gave  the  Federal  Government  a 
large  excess  of  prisoners  actually  in  hand,  and  enabled  them  to 
carry  out  the  policy  which  they  had  all  along  evidently  preferred. 
Instead  of  fulfilling  the  terms  of  the  cartel,  they  cooly  notified 
Judge  Ould  that  henceforth  ^^  exchanges  will  he  confined  to  such  equiva- 
lents as  are  held  in  confinement  on  either  side.''^  The  plain  meaning  of 
this  was  that  the  Federal  Government  treated  as  a  nulity  the  terms 
of  the  cartel,  and  the  large  number  of  paroles  which  the  Confederates 
held  against  them,  and  proposed  to  exchange  man  for  man  of  those 
actually  in  prison,  which  would  have  released  every  single  prisoner 
held  by  the  Confederacy,  and  left  some  thousands  of  our  own 
brave  soldiers  to  languish  and  die  in  hopeless  captivity,  notwith- 
standing the  fact  that  the  Confederates  (carrying  out  the  terms  of 
the  cartel)  had  already  paroled  their  equivalents  of  Federal"  soldiers. 
The  Confederate  Commissioner,  of  course,  indignantly  rejected  this 
proposition,  and  the  subsequent  correspondence  until  August  10th, 
1864,  abounds  in  earnest  efforts  on  the  part  of  Judge  Ould  to  in- 
duce the  Federal  authorities  to  return  to  the  cartel,  and  their 
quibbles,  excuses,  and  evasions.  We  very  much  regret  that  we 
have  not  space  to  publish  this  correspondence  in  full.  Indeed  we 
could  desire  no  better  vindication  of  the  Confederacy  than  the 
publication  of  every  letter  which  passed  between  the  commissioners. 
Our  cause  suffered  nothing  in  the  hands  of  our  able  and  high- 
minded  commissioner.  Judge  Ould. 

On  the  10th  of  August,  1864,  seeing  the  hopelessness  of  effecting 
further  exchanges  on  any  fair  terms,  Judge  Ould  wrote  the  letter 
(which  we  gave  in  our  last  number),  proposing  to  accept  the  terms 
offered  by  the  other  side,  and  to  exchange  man  for  man  of  actual 
captives. 

Notwithstanding  the  fact  that  this  was  their  own  proposition,  and 
would  have  Avorketi  largely  in  their  favor  as  it  ignored  the  thou- 
sands of  paroles  held  by  the  Confederates  and  would  have  released 
all  Federal  prisoners  and  have  left  a  large  number  of  Confederates 
in  captivity,  the  Federal  authorities  never  deigned  to  give  an  ansioer 


Ti^ealment  of  Prisoners  During  the  War.  313 

to  this  letter.     They  would  neither  carry  out  the  terms  of  the  parole, 
nor  abide  by  their  own  proposition  when  it  was  accepted. 

There  were  various  complications  which  arose  during  the  suspen- 
sion of  the  cartel,  but  the  plain  meaning  of  them  all  was  that  the 
Federal  Government  had  deliberately  adopted  as  their  war  policy 
the  non-exchange  of  prisoners. 

We  will  briefly  notice  several  of  these  complications. 

In  December,  1863,  3Iaj or- General  B.  F.  Butler  was  appointed 
Special  Commissioner  for  the  exchange  of  prisoners  on  the  part  of 
the  Federal  Government.  The  infamous  conduct  of  this  officer  in 
New  Orleans  had  excited  the  detestation  of  the  civilized  world, 
and' had  caused  the  Confederate  Government  to  declare  him  an 
outlaw.  And  yet  Mr.  Stanton,  in  selecting  an  agent  ■  to  overcome 
difficulties  in  the  way  of  exchange,  passed  by  all  of  his  other  officers 
and  selected  this  most  obnoxious  jDersonage.  What  fair-minded 
man  can  doubt  that  the  object  in  selecting  this  agent  was  really  to 
prevent  an  exchange  f  But  in  their  eager  desire  to  effect  an  exchange, 
the  Confederates  finally  determined  to  treat  even  with  General 
Butler,  and  accordingly  Judge  Quid  went  to  Fortress  Monroe  and 
had  a  protracted  interview  with  him.  To  do  General  Butler  justice, 
he  seemed  even  more  liberal  in  the  matter  of  exchange  than  his 
superiors  had  been,  and  after  a  full  discussion  of  all  the  points  at 
iss.ue  a  neio  cartel  was  agreed  upon. 

When  all  of  the  points  had  been  agreed  to  on  both  sides,  and 
copies  of  the  new  cartel  made.  Judge  Ould  said  to  him:  "Now, 
General,  I  am  fully  authorized  to  sign  that  paper  in  behalf  of  my 
Government,  and  we  will  close  the  matter  by  signing,  sealing  and 
delivering  it  here  and  now."  General  Butler  replied  that  he  had ' 
not  the  authority  to  sign  the  paper,  but  would  refer  it  to  his  Govern- 
ment, and  use  all  of  his  influence  to  induce  its  approval.  Lieutenant- 
General  U.  S.  Grant  disapproved  of  the  arrangement,  and  the 
Federal  Government  refused  to  confirm  it.  We  have  the  proof  of 
this  in  several  forms. 

We  clip  the  following  from  a  Northern  paper  published  not  long 
after  the  close  of  the  war : 

•  General  Butler  said  at  Hamilton,  Ohio,  the  other  day,  that  while 
he  never  answered  anonymous  newspaper  attacks,  he  felt  it  his 
duty  here  at  Hamilton  to  refute  a  slander  which  had  been  circu- 
lated from  this  platform  a  few  days  ago  by  a  gentleman  of  standing 
in  advocating  the  election  of  the  Democratic  candidate. 

He  has  chosen  to  say  that  I  am  responsible  for  the  starvation  of 


314  Southern  Historical  Society  Papers. 

our  prisoners  at  Belle  Isle  and  Andersonville,  by  refusing  to  ex- 
change soldiers  because  the  Rebels  did  not  recognize  the  negroes  in 
our  service  as  regular  soldiers. 

I  don't  propose  to  criticise  anybody,  or  to  say  who  was  right  or 
who  was  wrong,  but  I  propose  to  state  the  exact  facts,  because  it 
has  been  widely  charged  against  me,  that  in  order  to  rescue  the 
negro  soldiers  I  preferred  tliat  30,000  of  our  men  should  starve 
rather  than  agree  that  the  negro  should  not  be  exchanged. 

Whatever  I  might  have  thought  it  best  to  have  done,  I  am  only 
here  to-day  to  say  that  I  did  not  do  it.  The  duties  of  Commissioner 
of  Exchange  were  put  in  my  hands.  I  made  an  arrangement  to 
have  an  exchange  effected — man  for  man,  officer  for  officer.  I 
communicated  my  plan  to  General  Streight,  of  Indiana,  who  is 
here  to-day.  and  who  had  then  just  escaped  from  the  Libby.  I 
told  him  how  I  proposed  to  get  our  negro  soldiers  out  of  rebel  ■ 
hands. 

We  had  60,000  or  thereabout  of  their  prisoners.  They  had 
30,000  of  ours,  or  thereabout.  I  don't  give  the  exact  numbers,  as  I 
quote  from  memory ;  but  these  are  the  approximate  numbers. 

I  proposed  to  go  on  and  exchange  with  the  rebels,  man  for  man, 
officer  for  officer,  until  I  got  30,000  of  our  men,  and  then  I  would 
still  have  had  30,000  of  theirs  left  in  my  hands.  And  then  I  pro- 
posed to  twist  these  30,000  until  I  got  the  negroes  out  of  the  Rebels. 
[Applause.]  I  made  this  arrangement  with  the  Confederate  Com- 
missioner. This  was  on  the  1st  of  April,  before  we  commenced  to 
move  on  that  campaign  of  18G4,  from  the  Rapid  Ami  to  the  James, 
around  Richmond.  At  that  time  the  Lieutenant-General  visited 
my  headquarters,  and  I  told  him  what  I  had  done.  He  gave  me 
certain  verbal  directions.  What  they  were  I  shall  not  say,  because 
I  have  his  instructions  in  writing.  But  I  sent  my  proposition  for 
exchange  to  the  Government  of  the  United  States.  It  was  referred 
to  the  Lieutenant-General.  He  ordered  me  not  to  give  the  Con- 
federates another  man  in  exchange. 

I  telegraphed  back  to  him  in  these  words : 

"  Your  order  shall  be  obeyed,  but  I  assume  you  do  not  mean  to 
interfere  with  the  exchange  of  the  sick  and  wounded  ?" 

He  replied  :  "  Take  all  the  sick  and  wounded  you  can  get,  but 
don't  give  them  another  man." 

You  can  see  that  even  with  sick  and  wounded  men  this  system 
would  soon  cause  all  exchanges  to  stop. 

It  did  stop.  It  stopped  right  there,  in  April,  1S64,  and  was  not 
resumed  until  August,  1864,  when  Mr.  Ould,  the  Rebel  Commis- 
sioner, again  wrote  me:  "  We  will  exchange  man  for  man,  officer 
for  officer,"  and  saying  nothing  about  colored  troops. 

I  laid  this  dispatch  before  the  Lieutenant-General.  His  answer, 
in  writing,  was  substantially:  "  If  you  give  the  rebels  the  30,000 
men  whom  we  hold,  it  will  insure  the  defeat  of  General  Sherman 
and  endanger  our  safety  here  around  Richmond.''  I  wrote  an 
argument,  offi^nsively  put,  to  the  Confederate  Commissioners,  so 
that  they  could  stop  all  further  offers  of  exchange. 


Treatment  of  Prisoners  Daring  the  War.  315 

I  say  nothing  about  the  policy  of  this  course ;  I  offer  no  criticism 

f  it  whatever ;  I  only  say  that  whether  it  be  a  good  or  a  bad 

jpolicy,  it  was  not  mine,  and  that  my  part  in  it  was  wholly  in 

jobedience  to  orders  from  my  commanding  officer,  the  Lieutenant- 

Xjreneral. 

I    Upon  another  occasion  General  Butler  used  this  strong  language: 

j  "The  great  importance  of  the  question-;  the  fearful  responsibility 
Ifor  the  many  thousands  of  lives  which,  by  the  refusal  to  exchange, 
Avere  sacrificed  by  the  most  cruel  forms  of  death ;  from  cold,  starva- 
Ition,  and  pestilence  of  the  prison  pens  of  Raleigh  and  Anderson- 
'ville,  being  more  than  all  the  British  soldiers  killed  in  the  wars  of 
Napoleon;  the  anxiety  of  fathers,  brothers,  sisters,  mothers,  wives, 
ito  know  the  exigency  which  caused  this  terrible — and  perhaps  as 
it  may  have  seemed  to  them  useless  and  unnecessary — destruction 
of  those  dear  to  them,  by  horrible  deaths;  each  and  all  have  com- 
pelled me  to  this  exposition,  so  that  it  may  be  seen  that  these  lives 
were  spent  as  a  part  of  the  system  of  attack  upon  the  rebellion,  de- 
;vised  by  the  wisdom  of  the  General-in-chief  of  the  armies,  to  de- 
stroy it  by  depletion,  depending  upon  our  superior  numbers  to  win 
the  victory  at  last. 

"The  loyal  mourners  will  doubtless  derive  solace  from  this  fact, 
and  appreciate  all  the  more  highly  the  genius  which  conceived  the 
l^lan  and  the  success  won  at  so  great  a  cost." 

The  New  York  Tribune  will  also  be  accepted  as  competent 
authority.  Referring  to  the  occurrences  of  1864,  the  Tribune  edi- 
torially says : 

"In  August  the  Rebels  offered  to  renew  the  exchange,  man  for 
man.  General  Grant  then  telegraphed  the  following  important 
order:  'It  is  hard  on  our  men,  held  in  Southern  prisons,  not  to 
exchange  them,  but  it  is  humanity  to  those  left  in  the  ranks  to 
fight  our  battles.  Every  man  released  on  parole  or  otherwise  be- 
comes an  active  soldier  against  us  at  once,  either  directly  or  indi- 
rectly. If  we  commence  a  system  of  exchange  which  liberates  all 
prisoners  taken,  we  will  have  to  fight  on  till  the  whole  South  is 
exterminated.  If  we  hold  those  caught,  they  amount  to  no  more 
than  dead  men.  At  this  particular  time,  to  release  all  Rebel  pris- 
oners North  would  insure  Sherman's  defeat,  and  would  comj^romise 
our  safety  here.'" 

Here  is  even  a  stronger  statement  from  a  Northern  source : 

"New  York,  August  Sth,  18G5. 

'^Moreover,  General  Butler^  in  his  speech  at  Lowell,  Massachusetts^ 
stated  positively  that  he  had  been  ordered  by  Mr.  Stanton  to  put  forward 
the  negro  question  to  complicate  and  prevent  the  exchange.  ***** 
Every  one  is  aware  that,  when  the  exchange  did  take  place,  not  the 
slightest  alteration  had  occurred  in  the  question,  and  that  our  pris- 
oners might  as  ivell  have  been  released  twelve  or  eighteen  months  before 


316  Southern  Historical  Society  Papers. 


as  at  the  resumption  of  the  cartel,  which,  would  have  saved  to  the  Republic 
at  least  tivelve  or  fifteen  thousand  heroic  lives.  That  they  were  not  saved 
is  due  alone  to  Mr.  Edivin  M.  Stanton's  peculiar  policy  and  dogged 
obstinacy ;  and,  as  I  have  remarked  before,  he  is  unquestion- 
ably THE  digger  op  THE  UNNAMED  GRAVES  THAT  CROWD  THE  VICINITY  \ 
OF  EVERY  SOUTHERN  PRISON  WITH  HISTORIC  AND  NEVER-TO-BE-FORGOTTEN 
HORRORS. 

"  Once  for  all,  let  me  declare  that  I  have  never  found  fault  with 
any  one  because  I  was  detained  in  prison,  for  I  am  well  aware  that  \^ 
that  was  a  matter  in  which  no  one  but  myself,  and  possibly  a  few 
personal  friends,  would  feel  any  interest;  that  my  sole  motive  for 
impeaching  the  Secretary  of  War  was  that  the  people  of  the  loyal  h 
North  might  know  to  ivhom  they  were  indebted  for  the  cold-blooded  and  j 
needless  sacrifice  of  their  fathers  and  brothers,  tlieir  husbands  and  their 
sons. 

"  Junius  Henri  Browne." 


H) 


General  Butler  also  produced  upon  another  occasion  the  follow- 
ing telegram,  which  ought  to  be  conclusive  on  this  question : 

"  City  Point,  August  18th,  1864. 

"  To  General  Butler — I  am  satisfied  that  the  chief  object  of  your 
interview,  besides  having  the  proper  sanction,  meets  with  my  entire  h\ 
approval.  I  have  seen,  from  Southern  papers,  that  a  system  of  • 
retaliation  is  going  on  in  the  South,  which  they  keep  from  us,  and 
which  we  should  stop  in  some  way.  On  the  subject  of  exchange, 
however,  I  differ  from  General  Hitchcock ;  it  is  hard  on  our  men 
held  in  Southern  prisons  not  to  exchange  them,  but  it  is  humanity 
to  those  left  in  the  ranks  to  fight  our  battles.  Every  man  released 
on  parole,  or  otherwise,  becomes  an  active  soldier  against  us  at  once, 
either  directly  or  indirectly.  If  we  commence  a  system  of  exchange 
which  liberates  all  prisoners  taken,  we  will  have  to  fight  on  until 
the  whole  South  is  exterminated.  If  we  hold  those  caught,  they 
amount  to  no  more  than  dead  men.  At  this  particular  time,  to  release 
all  Rebel  prisoners  North  would  insure  Sherman's  defeat,  and  would 
compromise  our  safety  here. 

"U.S.Grant, 
"  Lieutenant- GeneraV 

We  think  that  the  above  testimony  settles  beyond  all  controversy 
that  General  U.  S.  Grant,  Secretary  Stanton,  and  Mr.  Lincoln,  were 
responsible  for  the  refusal  to  exchange  prisoners  in  1864. 

But  the  following  extract  from  the 

TESTIMONY  OF  GENERAL  GRANT 

before  the  Committee  on  the  Conduct  of  the  War,  given  February 

11th,  1865,  may  be  added  as  an  end  of  controversy  on  this  point: 

Question.  It  has  been  said  that  we  refused  to  exchange  prisoners 


Treatment  of  Prisoners  During  the  War.  317 

because  we  found  ours  starved,  diseased,  unserviceable  when  we 
received  them,  and  did  not  like  to  exchange  sound  men  for  such 
men? 

Answer.  There. never  has  been  any  such  reason  as  that.  That 
has  been  a  reason  for  making  exchanges.  /  'will  confess  that  if  our 
men  who  are  prisoners  in  the  South  were  really  well  taken  care  of,  suffer- 
ing  nothing  except  a  little  privation  of  liberty,  then,  in  a  military  point 
of  view,  it  would  not  he  good  policy  for  us  to  exchange,  because  every  man 
they  get  back  is  forced  right  into  the  army  at  once,  while  that  is  not  the 
case  with  our  prisoners  ivhen  we  receive  them.  In  fact,  the  half  of  our 
returned  prisoners  will  never  go  into  the  army  again,  and  none  of 
them  will  until  after  they  have  had  a  furlough  of  thirty  or  sixty 
days.  Still,  the  fact  of  their  suffering  as  they  do  is  a  reason  for 
making  this  exchange  as  rapidly  as  possible. 

Question.  And  never  has  been  a  reason  for  not  making  the 
exchange  ? 

Answer.  It  never  has.  Exchanges  having  been  suspended  by 
reason  of  disagreement  on  the  part  of  agents  of  exchange  on  both 
sides  before  I  came  in  command  of  the  armies  of  the  United  States, 
and  it  then  being  near  the  opening  of  the  spring  campaign,  I  did 
,not  deem  it  advisable  or  just  to  the  men  who  had  to  fight  our  battles  to  re- 
\  enforce  the  enemy  with  thirty  or  forty  thousand  discipilined  troops  at  that 
time.  An  immediate  resumption  of  exchanges  would  have  had  that 
I  effect  "without  giving  us  corresponding  benefits.  The  suffering  said 
to  exist  among  our  prisoners  South  was  a  powerful  argument  against 
ithe  course  pursued,  and  I  so  felt  it. 

I     We  had  intended  to  discuss  fully 

THE   NEGRO   QUESTION 

in  its  bearing  upon  exchange  of  prisoners,  but  find  that  we  have 
barely  space  to  state  it.     When  the  war  began  the  Federal  Govern- 
ment distinctly  declared  that  it  had  no  power  and  no  desire  to  inter- 
fere ivith  slavery  in  the  States.    But  as  it  progressed  the  slaves'  were 
not  only  declared  free,  but  were  enlisted  as  soldiers  in  the  United 
iStates  armies.     The  question  at  once  arose  whether  the  Confederate 
j  'Government  should  recognize  these  captured  slaves  as  prisoners  of 
ifwar,  or  should  remand  them  to  their  masters,  from  whom  they 
!  had  been  forcibly  taken.     The  Confederates,  of  course,  took  the 
ground  that  as  both  the  constitution  of  the  United  States  and  that 
of  the  Confederacy  recognized  slaves  as  the  property  of  their  own- 
lers,  when  these  slaves  were  abducted  and  enlisted  "in  the  Federal 
army,  their  masters  had  a  right  to  reclaim  them  whenever  and 
'wherever  they  could  recapture  them. 

General  Butler  says  that  he  was  directed  by  his  Government  to 
put  forward  this  question  offensively,  in  order  to  stop  exchanges;  but 


318  Southern  Historical  Society  Papers. 

even  General  Butler  agreed  to  a  cartel  which  virtually  settled,  or 
at  least  postponed  the  question,  and   we  have  most  abundant 
evidence  that  this  was  a  mere  subterfuge  to  'prevent  exchange. 
Nor  are  we  able  at  present  to  enter  more  fully  into  the 

EFFORTS  OF  THE  CONFEDERACY  TO  EFFECT  AN  EXCHANGE. 

The  mission  of  Vice-President  A.  H.  Stephens,  in  18G3,  resulted 
in  failure,  because  Vicksburg  and  Gettysburg  made  the  United 
States  authorities  feel  that  they  were  in  a  position  to  refuse  even 
an  audience  to  the  "Rebel"  commissioner. 

General  Lee's  overtures  to  General  Grant  and  to  the  Federal 
Government  (through  the  United  States  Sanitary  Commission) 
were  equally  futile;  and  the  delegation  of  Anderson ville  prisoners, 
which  Mr.  Davis  paroled  to  visit  the  President  of  the  United  States 
and  plead  for  an  exchange,  were  denied  an  audience,  and  were 
spurned  from  Washington,  to  carry  back  the  sad  tidings  that  their 
Government  held  out  no  hope  of  their  release. 

We  have  a  letter  from  the  wife  of  the  chairman  of  that  delegation 
(now  dead),  in  which  she  says  that  her  husband  always  said  that 
he  was  more  contemptuously  treated  by  Secretary  Stanton  than  he  ever 
was  at  Andersonville. 

We  add  upon  this  point  the  following  letter  in  the  Philadelphia 
Times,  which  was  elicited  by  the  recent  discussion: 

Clifton,  Pennsylvania,  February  7tli,  1S76. 

I  am  certainly  no  admirer  of  Jefferson  Davis  or  the  late  Con- 
federacy, but  in  justice  to  him  and  that  the  truth  may  be  known, 
I  Avould  state  that  I  was  a  prisoner  of  war  for  twelve  months,  and 
was  in  Andersonville  when  the  delegation  of  prisoners  spoken  of 
by  Jefferson  Davis  left  thereto  plead  our  cause  with  the  authorities 
at  Washington ;  and  nobody  can  tell,  unless  it  be  a  shipw^recked 
and  famished  mariner,  who  sees  a  vessel  approaching  and  then 
passing  on  without  rendering  the  required  aid,,  what  fond  hopes 
were  raised,  and  how  hope  sickened  into  despair  waiting  for  the 
answer  that  never  came.  In  my  opinion,  and  that  of  a  good  many 
others,  a  good  part  of  the  responsibility  for  the  horrors  of  Ander- 
sonville rests  with  General  U.  S.  Grant,  who  refused  to  make  a  fair 
exchange  of  prisoners. 

Henry  M.  Brennan, 
Late  Private  Second  Pennsylvania  Cavalry. 


Treatment  of  Prisoners  During  the  War.  319 

We  will  close  our  case,  for  the  present,  with  the  following  im- 
portant testimony,  which  should  surely,  of  itself,  be  sufficient  to 
settle  this  question  before  any  fair  tribunal : 

LETTER    OF   CHIEF- JUSTICE   SHEA. 

The  New  York  Tribune  of  the  24th  January,  1876,  publishes  the 
following  letter  from  Judge  Shea,  which  was  called  forth  by  Mr. 
Blaine's  accusations  on  the  floor  of  the  House  of  Representatives. 
The  Tribune  introduces  the  letter,  with  the  following  additional 
comments : 

Chief-Justice  George  Shea,  of  the  Marine  Court,  who  sends  us  an 
interesting  letter  about  Jefferson  Davis,  was,  as  is  well  known,  the 
principal  agent  in  securing  the  signatures  of  Mr.  Greeley,  Gerrit 
Smith,  and  others  to  Mr.  Davis's  bail  bond.  The  essential  point  of 
his  present  statement  is  that  Mr.  Greeley  and  the  other  gentlemen 
whom  he  approached  on  that  subject  were  unwilling  to  move  in 
the  matter  until  entirely  satisfied  as  to  Mr.  Davis's  freedom  from  the 
guilt  of  intentional  cruelty  to  Northern  prisoners  at  Andersonville; 
that  Judge  Shea,  at  the  instance  of  Mr.  Greeley  and  Vice-President 
Wilson,  went  to  Canada  to  inspect  the  journals  of  the  secret  sessions 
of  the  Confederate  Senate — documents  which  up  to  this  time  have 
never  passed  into  the  hands  of  our  Government,  or  been  accessible 
to  Northern  readers;  that  from  these  secret  records,  including 
numerous  messages  from  Davis  on  the  subject,  it  conclusively 
appeared  that  the  Rebel  Senate  believed  the  Southern  prisoners 
were  mistreated  at  the  North ;  that  they  were  eager  for  retaliation, 
and  that  Davis  strenuously  and  to  the  end  resisted  these  efforts  ; 
and  that  he  attempted  to  send  Vice-President  Stephens  North  to 
consult  with  President  Lincoln  on  the  subject.  No  more  important 
statements  than  these  concerning  that  phase  of  the  civil  war  have 
been  given  to  the  public.  They  shed  light  upon  the  course  of  Mr. 
Greeley  and  other  eminent  citizens  of  the  North ;  and  it  seems  to 
us  clear  that,  on  many  accounts,  the  Rebel  authorities  owe  it  to 
themselves  and  to  history  to  give  to  the  public  the  documents 
which  Judge  Shea  was  permitted  to  see.  It  is  not  likely  that  they 
will  have  any  material  eff'ect  upon  the  fate  of  Mr.  Davis,  or  upon 
political  questions  now  pending.  But  they  are  of  vital  consequence 
to  any  correct  history  of  the  rebellion,  and  their  revelations,  if 
sustaining  throughout  the  portions  submitted  to  Judge  Shea, 
might  do  as  much  to  promote  as  the  late  Andersonville  debate  did 
to  retard  the  reconciliation  of  the  sections. 

To  the  Editor  of  the  Tribune  : 

Sir — I  apprehend  no  one  will  accuse  me  with  having  ever  har- 
bored disunion  proclivities,  or  of  any  inclination  toward  secession 
heresies.  But  truth  is  truth,  justice  is  justice,  and  an  act  of  pro- 
posed magnanimity  should  not  be  impaired  by  both  an  untruth 


320  Southern  Historieal  Society  Papers. 

and  an  injustice.  The  statement  in  the  House  of  Representatives 
on  Thursday  last,  made  by  General  Banks  during  the  debate  on 
the  proposed  amnesty  bill,  was  more  entirely  correct  than,  perhaps, 
he  had  reason  to  credit. 

What  I  now  relate  are  facts  :  Mr.  Horace  Greeley  received  a  letter, 
dated  June  22d,  1865,  from  Mrs.  Jefferson  Davis.  It  was  written 
at  Savannah,  Georgia,  where  Mrs.  Davis  and  her  family  were  then 
detained  under  a  sort  of  military  restraint.  Mr.  Davis  himself, 
recently  taken  prisoner,  was  at  Fortress  Monroe;  and  the  most 
conspicuous  special  chauge  threatened  against  him  by  the  "  Bureau 
of  Military  Justice"  was  of  guilty  knowledge  relating  to  the  assas- 
sination of  President  Lincoln.  The  principal  purpose  of  the  letter 
was  imploring  Mr.  Greeley  to  bring  about  a  speedy  trial  of  her 
husband  upon  that  charge,  and  upon  all  other  supposed  cruelties 
that  were  inferred  against  him.  A  public  trial  was  praj'-ed  that  the 
accusations  might  be  as  publicly  met,  and  her  husband,  as  she 
insisted  could  be  done,  readily  vindicated.  To  this  letter  Mr. 
Greeley  at  once  forwarded  an  answer  for  Mrs.  Davis,  directed  to  the 
care  of  General  Burge,  commanding  our  military  forces  at  Savannah. 
The  morning  of  the  next  day  Mr.  Greeley  came  to  my  residence  in 
this  city,  placed  the  letter  from  Mrs.  Davis  in  my  hand,  saying  that 
lie  could  not  believe  the  charge  to  be  true ;  that  aside  from  the 
enormity  and  want  of  object,  it  would  have  been  impolitic  in  Mr. 
Davis,  or  any  other  leader  in  the  Southern  States,  as  they  could 
not  but  be  aware  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  naturally  kind  heart  and  his  good 
intentions  toward  them  all;  and  Mr.  Greeley  asked  me  to  become 
professionally  interested  in  behalf  of  Mr.  Davis.  I  called  to  Mr. 
Greeley's  attention  that,  although  I  was  like-minded  with  himself 
as  to  this  one  view  of  the  case,  yet  there  was  the  other  pending 
charge  of  cruel  treatment  of  our  Union  soldiers  while  prisoners  at 
Andersonville  and  other  places,  and  that,  unless  our  Government 
was  willing  to  have  it  imputed  that  Wirz  was  convicted  and  his 
sentence  of  death  inflicted  unjustly,  it  could  not  now  overlook  the 
superior  who  was,  at  least  popularly,  regarded  as  the  moving  cause 
of  those  wrongs;  and  that  if  Mr.  Davis  had  been  guilty  of  such 
breach  of  the  rules  for  the  conduct  of  war  in  modern  civilization, 
he  was  not  entitled  to  the  right  of,  nor  to  bje  manumitted  as  a  mere 
prisoner  of  war.  I  expressed  the  thought  that  my  services  before 
a  military  tribunal  would  be  of  little  benefit.  I  hesitated ;  but 
finally  told  Mr.  Greeley  that  I  would  consult  with  some  of  our 
common  friends,  whose  countenance  would  give  strength  to  such 
an  undertaking,  if  it  was  discovered  to  be  right,  and  that  none  but 
Republicans  and  some  of  the  radical  kind  were  likely  to  be  of 
positive  aid;  indeed,  any  other  would  have  been  injurious.  It 
occurred  to  me,  from  recollecting  conversations  with  Mr.  Henry 
Wilson,  the  previous  April,  while  we  were  together  at  Hilton  Head, 
South  Carolina,  that  if  Mr.  Davis  were  guiltless  of  this  latter 
offence,  an  avenue  ^iiight  be  opened  for  a  speedy  trial,  or  for  his 
manumission  as  any  other  prisoner  of  war.     I  did  consult  with 


Treatment  of  Prisoners  During  the  War.  321 

such  friends,  and  Mr.  Henry  Wilson,  Governor  John  A.  Andrew, 
Mr.  Thaddeus  Stevens,  and  Mr.  Gerrit  Smith  were  among  them. 
The  result  was  that  I  thereupon  undertook  to  do  whatever  became 
feasible.  Although  not  in  strictness  required  to  elucidate  our 
present  intent,  it  is,  nevertheless,  becoming  the  history  of  the  case 
simply  to  mention  that  Mr.  Charles.  0 'Conor  was,  from  the  first, 
esteemed  the  most  valuable  man  to  lead  for  the  defence  by  Mr. 
Greeley  and  Mr.  Gerrit  Smith.  A  Democrat  of  pronounced  repute, 
Btill  his  appearance  would  import  no  partisan  aspect  to  the  great 
.argument,  and  would  excite  no  feelings  but  those  of  admiration 
and  respect  among  even  extreme  men  of  opposite  opinion.  Public 
expectation  looked  to  him,  and  soon  after  it  was  made  known  that 
he  had  already  volunteered  his  services  to  Mr.  Davis.  Mr.  O 'Conor's 
course  during  the  war  was  decided,  understood,  and  consistent,  but 
never  offensive  nor  intrusive  ;  his  personal  honor  without  reproach  • 
his  courage  without  fear ;  his  learning,  erudition,  propriety  of  pro- 
fessional judgment  conceded  as  most  eminent. 

There  was  a  general  agreement  among  the  gentlemen  of  the  Re- 
publican party  whom  I  have  mentioned  that  Mr.  Davis  did  not,  by 
thought  or  act,  participate  in  a  conspiracy  against  Mr.  Lincoln ;  and 
none  of  those  expressed  that  ^conviction  more  emphatically  than  Mr. 
Thaddeus  Stevens.  The  single  subject  on  which  light  was  desired 
by  them  was  concerning  the  treatment  of  our  soldiers  while  in  the 
hands  of  the  enemy.  The  Tribune  of  May  17th,  1865,  tells  the  real 
condition  of  feeling  at  that  moment,  and  unequivocally  shows  that  it 
was  not  favorable  to  Mr.  Davis  on  this  matter.  At  the  instance  of 
Mr.  Greeley,  Mr.  Wilson  and,  as  I  was  given  to  understand,  of 
Mr.  Stevens,  I  went  to  Canada  the  first  week  in  January,  1866 
taking  Boston  on  my  route,  there  to  consult  with  Governor  Andrew 
and  others.  While  at  Montreal,  General  John  C.  Breckinridge 
came  from  Toronto,  at  my  request,  for  the  purpose  of  giving  me 
information.  There  I  had  placed  in  my  possession  the  official 
archives  of  the  Government  of  the  Confederate  States,  which  I  read 
and  considered — especially  all  those  messages  and  other  acts  of  the 
Executive  with  the  Senate  in  its  secret  sessions  concerning  the  care 
and  exchange  of  prisoners.  I  found  that  the  supposed  inhuman 
and  unwarlike  treatment  of  their  own  captured  soldiers  by  agents 
of  our  Government  was  a  most  prominent  and  frequent  topic. 
That  those  reports  current  then — perhaps  even  to  this  hour — in  the 
South  were  substantially  incorrect  is  little  to  the  practical  purpose. 
From  those  documents — not  made  to  meet  the  public  eye,  but  used 
in  secret  session,  and  from  inquiries  by  me  of  those  thoroughly 
conversant  with  the  state  of  Southern  opinion  at  the  time — it  was 
manifest  that  the  people  of  the  South  believed  those  reports  to  be 
trustworthy,  and  they  individually,  and  through  their  representa- 
tives at  Richmond,  pressed  upon  Mr.  Davis,  as  the  Executive  and 
as  the  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  army  and  nav}--,  instant  recourse 
to  active  measures  of  retaliation,  to  the  end  that  the  supposed 
cruelties  might  be  stayed.  Mr.  Davis's  conduct  under  such  urgency 
7 


322  Southern  Historical  Society  Papers. 

and,  indeed,  expostulation,  was  a  circumstance  all-important  in  de- 
termining the  probability  of  this  charge  as  to  himself.  It  was 
equally  and  decisively  manifest,  by  the  same  sources  of  information, 
that  Mr.  Davis  steadily  and  unflinchingly  set  himself  in  opposition 
to  the  indulgence  of  such  demands,  and  declined  to  resort  to  any 
measure  of  violent  retaliation.  It  impaired  his  personal  influence, 
and  brought  much  censure  upon  him  from  many  in  the  South,  who 
sincerely  believed  the  reports  spread  among  the  people  to  be  really 
true.  The  desire  that  something  should  be  attempted  from  which 
a  better  care  of  prisoners  could  be  secured  seems  to  have  grown  so 
strong  and  prevalent  that,  on  July  2d,  1863,  Mr.  Davis- accepted  the 
proffered  service  of  Mr.  Alexander  H.  Stephens,  the  Vice-President, 
to  proceed  as  a  military  commissioner  to  Washington.  The  sole 
purpose  of  Mr.  Davis  in  allowing  that  commission  appears,  from 
the  said  documents,  Avhich  I  read,  to  have  been  to  place  the  war  on 
the  footing  of  such  as  are  waged  by  civilized  people  in  modern 
times,  and  to  divest  it  of  a  savage  character,  which,  it  was  claimed, 
had  been  impressed  on  it  in  spite  of  all  eff'ort  and  protest;  and  al- 
leged instances  of  such  savage  conduct  were  named  and  averred. 
This  project  was  prevented,  as  Mr.  Stephens  was  denied  permission 
by  our  Administration  to  approach  Washington,  and  intercourse 
with  him  prohibited.  On  his  return,  after  this  rejected  effort  to 
produce  a  mutual  kindness  in  the  treatment' of  prisoners,  Southern 
feeling  became  more  unquiet  on  the  matter  than  ever;  yet  it  clearly 
appears  that  Mr.  Davis  would  not  yield  to  the  demand  for  re- 
taliation. 

The  evidence  tending  to  show  this  to  be  the  true  condition  of 
the  case  as  to  Mr.  Davis  himself  was  brought  by  me  and  submitted 
to  Mr.  Greeley,  and  in  part  to  Mr.  Wilson.  The  result  was,  these 
gentlemen,  and  those  others  in  sympathy  with  them,  changed  their 
former  suspicion  to  a  favorable  opinion  and  a  friendly  disposition. 
They  were  from  this  time  kept  informed  of  each  movement  as 
made  to  liberate  Mr.  ,QMjA  or  to  compel  the  Government  to  bring 
the  prisoner  to  trialT^Tu  this  took  place  before  counsel,  indeed 
before  any  one  acting  on  his  behalf,  was  allowed  to  communicate 
with  or  see  him. 

The  Tribune  now,  at  once,  began  a  series  of  leading  editorials  de- 
manding that  our  Government  proceed  with  the  trial ;  and  on 

nuarv^  16,  1866,  incited  by  those  editorials,  Senator  Howard,  of 
_fui,  offered  a  joint  resolution,  aided  by  Mr.  Sumner,  "  recom- 
ing  the  trial  of  Jefferson  Davis  and  Clement  C.  Clay  before  a 
military  tribunal  or  court-martial,  for  charges  mentioned  in  the 
report  of  the  Secretary  of  War,  of  March  4,  1866."  It  will  be  in- 
teresting to  mention  now  that  if  a  trial  proceeded  in  this  manner, 
I  was  then  creditably  informed,  Mr.  Thaddei*  Stevens  had  volun- 
teered as  counsel  for  Mr.  Clay. 

After  it  had  become  evident  that  there  was  no  immediate  pros- 
pect of  any  trial,  if  any  prospect  at  all,  the  counsel  for  Mr.  Davis 
became  anxious  that  their  client  be  liberated  on  bail,  and  one  of 


Treatment  of  Prisoners  During  the  War.  323 

them  consulted  with  Mr.  Greeley  as  to  the  feasibility  of  procuring 
some  names  as  bondsmen  of  persons  who  had  conspicuously  op- 
posed the  war  of  secession.  This  was  found  quite  easy ;  and  Mr. 
Gerrit  Smith  and  Commodore  Vanderbilt  were  selected,  and  Mr. 
Greeley,  in  case  his  name  should  be  found  necessary.  All  this 
could  not  have  been  accomplished  had  not  those  gentlemen,  and 
others  in  sympathy  with  them,  been  already  convinced  that  those 
charges  against  Mr.  Davis  were  unfounded  in  fact.  So  an  applica- 
tion was  made  on  June  11,  1866,  to  Mr.  Justice  Underwood,  at 
Alexandria,  \irginia,  for  a  writ  of  habeas  corpus,  which,  after  argu- 
ment, was  denied,  upon  the  ground  that  "Jefferson  Davis  was 
arrested  under  a  proclamation  of  the  President  charging  him  with 
complicity  in  the  assassination  of  the  late  President  Lincoln.  He 
has  been  held,"  says  the  decision,  "ever  since,  and  is  now  held,  as 
a  military  prisoner."  The  Washington  Chronicle  of  that  date  in- 
sisted that  "the  case  is  one  well  entitled  to  a  trial  before  a  military 
tribunal;  the  testimony  before  the  Judiciary  Committee  of  the 
House,  all  of  it  bearing  directly,  if  not  conchisivehj,  on  a  certain  in- 
tention to  take  the  life  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  is  a  most  important  element 
in  the  case."  This  was  reported  as  from  the  pen  of  Mr.  John  W. 
Forney,  then  clerk  of  the  Senate,  and  is  cited  by  me  as  an  expres- 
sion of  a  general  tone  of  the  press  on  that  occasion.  Then,  the 
House  of  Representatives,  on  the  motion  of  Mr.  Boutwell,  of  Mas- 
sachusetts, the  following  day  passed  a  resolution  "that  it  was  the 
opinion  of  the  House  that  JeffersQn  Davis  should  be  held  in  cus- 
tody as  a  prisoner  and  subject  to  trial  according  to  the  laws  of  the 
land."     It  was  adopted  by  a  vote  of  105  to  19. 

It  is  very  suggestive  to  reflect  just  here  that,  in  the  intermediate 
time,  Mr.  Clement  C.  Clay  had  been  discharged  from  imprisonment 
without  being  brought  to  trial  on  either  of  these  charges,  upon 
which  he  had  been  arrested,  and  for  which  arrest  the  $100,000  re- 
ward had  been  paid. 

This  failure  to  liberate  Mr.  Davis  ^i^^l  have  been  very  dis- 
couraging to  most  of  men ;  but  Mr.  Gre^^  and  those  friends  who 
were  acting  with  him,  determined  to  meet  the  issue  made,  promptly 
and  sharply,  and  to  push  the  Government  to  a  trial  of  its  prisoner. 
or  to  withdraw  the  charge  made  b}''  its  board  of  military  justice. 
The  point  was  soon  sent  home,  and  was  felt.  Mr.  Greeley  hastened 
back  to  New  York,  and  the  Tribune  of  June  12,  1866,  contained,  in 
a  leader  from  his  pen,  this  unmistakable  demand  and  protest : 

"How  and  when  did  Davis  become  a  prisoner  of  war?  He  was 
not  arrested  as  a  public  enemy,  but  as  a  felon,  officially  charged, 
in  the  face  of  the  civilized  world,  with  the  foulest,  most  execrable 
guilt — that  of  having  suborned  assaseins  to  murder  President  Lin- 
coln— a  crime  the  basest  and  most  cowardly  known  to  mankind. 
It  was  for  this  that  $100,000  was  offered  and  paid  for  his  arrest. 
And  the  proclamation  of  Andrew  Johnson  and  William  H.  Seward 
offering  this  reward  says  his  complicity  with  Wilkes  Booth  &  Co. 
is  established  'by  evidence  now  in  the  Bureau  of  Military  Justice.' 
So  there  was  no  need  of  time  to  hunt  it  up. 


324  Southern  Historical  Society  Papers. 

"  It  has  been  asserted  that  Davis  is  responsible  for  the  death  by- 
exposure  and  famine  of  our  captured  soldiers ;  and  his  official  po- 
sition gives  plausibility  to  the  charge.  Yet  while  Henry  Wirz — a 
miserable  wretch — a  mere  tool  of  tools — was  long  ago  arraigned, 
tried,  convicted,  sentenced,  and  hanged  for  this  crime — no  charge 
has  been  officially  j^referred  against  Davis.  So  we  presume  none 
is  to  be." 

The  2/-i6(mekept  up  repeating  this  demand  during  the  following 
part  of  that  year,  and  admonished  the  Government  of  the  increas- 
ing absurdity  of  its  position,  not  daring,  seemingly,  to  prosecute  a 
great  criminal  against  whom  it  had  officially  declared  it  was  pos- 
sessed of  evidence  to  prove  that  crime.  On  November  Dth,  1866, 
the  Tribune  again  thus  emphasized  this  thought: 

"Eighteen  months  have  nearly  elapsed  since  Jefferson  Davis  was 
made  a  State  prisoner.  He  had  previousl}'  been  publicly  charged 
by  the  President  of  the  United  States  with  conspiring  to  assassinate 
President  Lincoln,  and  $100,000  offered  for  his  capture  thereupon. 
The  capture  was  promptly  made  and  the  money  duly  paid;  yet,  up 
to  this  hour,  there  has  not  been  even  an  attempt  made  by  the  Go- 
vernment to  procure  an  indictment  on  that  charge.  He  has  also 
been  popularly,  if  not  officially,  accused  of  complicity  in  the  virtual 
murder  of  Union  soldiers  while  prisoners  of  war,  by  subjecting 
them  to  needless,  inhuman  exposure,  privation  and  abuse;  but  no 
official  attempt  has  been  made  to  indict  him  on  that  charge.  *  * 
A  great  government  may  deal-  sternly  with  offenders,  but  not 
meanly;  it  cannot  afford  to  seem  unwilling  to  repair  an  obvious 
wrong." 

The  Government,  however,  continued  to  express  its  inabiHty  to 
proceed  with  the  trial.  Another  year  had  passed  since  the  capture 
of  Mr.  Davis,  and  now  another  attempt  to  liberate  him  by  bail  was 
to  be  made.  The  Government,  by  its  conduct,  having  tacitly 
abandoned  those  special  charges  of  inliumanity,  a  petition  for  a 
writ  was  to  be  presented,  by  which  the  prisoner  might  be  handed 
over  to  the  civil  authority  to  answer  the  indictment  for  treason.  In 
aid  of  this  project,  Mr.  Wilson,  chairman  of  the  Committee  of 
Military  Affairs,  offered  in  the  Senate,  on  the  18th  of  March,  1867, 
a  resolution  urging  the  Government  to  proceed  with  the  trial.  The 
remarkable  thoughts  and  language  of  that  resolution  were  observed 
at  the  time,  and  necessarily  caused  people  to  infer  that  Mr.  Wilson, 
at  least,  was  not  under  the  too  common  delusion  that  the  Govern- 
ment really  had  a  case  on  either  of  those  two  particular  charges 
against  Mr.  Davis  individually;  and  a  short  time  after  this  Mr. 
Wilson  went  to  Fortress  Monroe  and  saw  Mr.  Davis.  The  visit 
was  simply  friendly,  and  not  for  any  purpose  relating  to  his  libe- 
ration. 

On  May  14th,  1867,  Mr.  Davis  was  delivered  to  the  civil  authority ; 
was  at  once  admitted  to  bail,  Mr.  Greeley  and  Mr.  Gerrit  Smith 
going  personally  to  Ptichmond,  in  attestation  of  their  belief  that 
wrong  had  been  done  to  Mr.  Davis  in  holding  him  so  long  accused 


Treatment  of  Prisoners  During  the  War.  325 

"Upon  those  charges,  now  abandoned,  and  as  an  expression  of 
magnanimity  toward  the  South.  Commodore  Vanderbilt,  then  but 
recently  the  recipient  of  the  thanks  of  Congress  for  his  superb  aid 
to  the  Government  during  the  war,  was  also  represented  there,  and 
signed  the  bond  through  Mr.  Horace  F.  Clark,  his  son-in-law,  and 
Mr.  Augustus  Schell,  his  friend. 

The  apparent  unwillingness  o£  the  Government  to  prosecute, 
•under  every  incentive  of  pride  and  honor  to  the  contrary,  was 
accepted  by  those  gentlemen  and  the  others  whom  I  have  mentioned 
as  a  confirmation  of  the  information  given  to  me  at  Montreal,  and 
of  its  entire  accuracy. 

These  men — Andrew,  Greeley,  Smith  and  Wilson — have  each 
passed  from  this  life.  The  history  of  their  efforts  to  bring  all  parts 
of  our  common  country  once  more  and  abidingly  into  unity,  peace 
and  concord,  and  of  Mr.  Greeley's  enormous  sacrifice  to  compel 
justice  to  be  done  to  one  man,  and  he  an  enemy,  should  be  written. 

I  will  add  a  single  incident  tending  the  same  way.  In  a  consul- 
tation with  Mr.  Thaddeus  Stevens,  at  his  residence  on  Capitol  Hill, 
at  Washington,  in  May,  1866,  he  related  to  me  how  the  chief  of 
this  "Military  Bureau"  showed  him  "the  evidence"  upon  which 
the  proclamation  was  issued  charging  Davis  and  Clay  with  com- 
plicity in  the  assassination  of  Mr.  Lincoln.  He  said  that  he  re- 
fused to  give  the  thing  any  support,  and  that  he  told  that  gentle- 
man the  evidence  was  insufficient  in.  itself,  and  incredible.  I  am 
not  likely  ever  to  forget  the  earnest  manner  in  which  Mr.  Stevens 
then  said  to  me :  "  Those  men  are  no  friends  of  mine.  They  are 
public  enemies;  and  I  would  treat  the  South  as  a  conquered  coun- 
try and  settle  it  politically  upon  the  policy  best  suited  for  ourselves. 
But  I  know  these  men,  sir.  They  are  gentlemen,  and  incapable  of 
being  assassins."*     Yours,  faithfully, 

Georgb  Shea, 

No.  205  West  46th  Street,  New  York,  January  15,  1876. 

And  now  it  only  remains  that  we  make  a  brief 

SUMMING   UP 

of  this  whole  question  of  the  treatment  of  prisoners  during  the 
war.     We  think  that  we  have  established  the  following  points  : 

1.  The  laws  of  the  Confederate  Congress,  the  orders  of  the  War 
Department,  the  regulations  of  the  Surgeon-General,  the  action  of 
our  Generals  in  the  field,  and  the  orders  of  those  who  had  the  im- 
mediate charge  of  the  prisoners,  all  provided  that  prisoners  in  the 
hands  of  the  Confederates  should  be  kindly  treated,  supplied  with 
the  same  rations  which  our  soldiers  had,  and  cared  for  when  sick 
in  hospitals  placed  on  'precisely  the  same  footing  as  the  hospitals  for 
Confederate  soldiers. 

*  Note. — This  and  the  former  statement  concerning  Mr.  Stevens  are  confirmed  to  me  bj 
his  literary  executor  and  biographer,  Hon.  Mr.  Dickey,  of  Pennsylvania.— G.  S. 


326  Southern  Historical  Society  Papers. 

2.  If  these  regulations  were  violated  in  individual  instances,  and 
if  subordinates  were  sometimes  cruel  to  prisoners,  it  was  without 
the  knowledge  or  consent  of  the  Confederate  Government,  which 
always  took  prompt  action  on  any  case  reported  to  them. 

3.  If  the  prisoners  failed  to  get  their  full  rations,  and  had  those 
of  inferior  quality,  the  Confederate  soldiers  suffered  in  precisely  the 
same  way,  and  to  the  same  extent,  and  it  resulted  from  that  system 
of  warfare  adopted  by  the  Federal  authorities,  which  carried  deso- 
lation and  ruin  to  every  part  of  the  South  they  could  reach,  and 
which  in  starving  the  Confederates  into  submission  brought  the 
same  evils  upon  their  own  men  in  Southern  prisons. 

4.  The  mortality  in  Southern  prisons  (fearfully  large,  although 
over  three  per  cent,  less  than  the  mortalitij  in  Northern  prisons),  resulted 
from  causes  beyond  the  control  of  our  authorities — from  epidemics, 
&c.,  which  might  have  been  avoided,  or  greatl}'  mitigated,  had  not 
the  Federal  Government  declared  medicines  "  contraband  of  war  " — 
refused  the  proposition  of  Judge  Ould,  that  each  Government 
should  send  its  own  surgeons  with  medicines,  hospital  stores,  &c., 
to  minister  to  soldiers  in  prison — declined  his  proposition  to  send 
medicines  to  its  own  men  in  Southern  prisons,  without  being  re- 
quired to  allow  the  Confederates  the  same  privilege — refused  to 
allow  the  Confederate  Government  to  buy  medicines  for  gold, 
tobacco  or  cotton,  which  it  offered  to  pledge  its  honor  should  be 
used  only  for  Federal  prisoners  in  its  hands — refused  to  exchange 
sick  and  wounded — and  neglected  from  August  to  December,  1SG4, 
to  accede  to  Judge  Quid's  proposition  to  send  transportation  to 
Savannah  and  receive  without  equivalent  from  ten  to  fifteen  thousand 
Federal  prisoners,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  this  offer  was  ac- 
companied with  a  statement  of  the  utter  inability  of  the  Confede- 
racy to  provide  for  these  prisoners,  and  a  detailed  report  of  the 
monthly  mortality  at  Andersonville,  and  that  Judge  Ould,  again 
and  again,  urged  compliance  with  his  humane  proposal.    * 

5.  We  have  proven,  by  the  most  unimpeachable  testimony,  that 
the  sufferings  of  Confederate  prisoners,  in  Northern  "  prison  pens," 
were  terrible  beyond  description — that  they  were  starved  in  a  land 
of  plenty — that  they  were  frozen  where  fuel  and  clothing  were 
abundant — that  they  suffered  untold  horrors  for  want  of  medicines, 
hospital  stores  and  proper  medical  attention — that  they  were  shot 
by  sentinels,  beaten  by  officers,  and  subjected  to  the  most  cruel 
punishments  upon  the  slightest  pretexts — that  friends  at  the  North 
were  refused  the  privilege  of  clothing  their  nakedness  or  feeding 


Treatment  of  Prisoners  During  the  War.  327 

"them  when  starving — and  that  these  outrages  were  perpetrated  not 
only  with  the  full  knowledge  of,  but  under  the  orders  of  E.  M. 
Stanton,  U.  S.  Secretaey  op  War.  We  have  proven  these  things 
by  Federal  as  well  as  Confederate  testimony. 

6.  We  have  shown  that  all  the  suffering  of  prisoners  on  both 
sides  could  have  been  avoided  by  simply  carrying  out  the  terms 
-of  the  cartel,  and  that  for  the  failure  to  do  this  the  Federal  authori- 
ties alone  were  responsible;  that  the  Confederate  Government 
originally  proposed  the  cartel,  and  were  always  ready  to  carry  it 
■out  in  both  letter  and  spirit ;  that  the  Federal  authorities  observed 
its  terms  only  so  long  as  it  was  to  their  interest  to  do  so,  and  then 
repudiated  their  plighted  faith,  and  proposed  other  terms,  which 
were  greatly  to  the  disadvantage  of  the  Confederates ;  that  when 
the  Government  at  Richmond  agreed  to  accept  the  hard  terms  of 
exchange  offered  them,  these  were  at  once  repudiated  by  the 
Federal  authorities ;  that  when  Judge  Ould  agreed  upon  a  new 
cartel  with  General  Butler,  Lieutenant-General  Grant  refused  to 
approve  it,  and  Mr.  Stanton  repudiated  it ;  and  that  the  policy  of 
the  Federal  Government  was  to  refuse  all  exchanges,  while  they 
"fired  the  Northern  heart"  by  placing  the  whole  blame  upon  the 
'"Rebels,"  and  by  circulating  the  most  heartrending  stories  of 
■"  Rebel  barbarity  "  to  prisoners. 

If  either  of  the  above  points  has  not  been  made  clear  to  any 
sincere  seeker  after  the  truth,  we  would  be  most  happy  to  produce 
further  testimony.  And  we  hold  ourselves  prepared  to  maintain, 
against  all  comers,  the  truth  of  every  proposition  we  have  laid  down  in 
■this  discussion.  Let  the  calm  verdict  of  history  decide  between  the 
■Confederate  Government  and  their  calumniators. 


328  Southern  Historical  Society  Papers. 


Iditarial  3^at\i:grap.be. 


Our  March  Number  has  excited  great  interest,  and  has  received  the 
warmest  commendation  from  the  press  generally  throughout  the  South, 
Some  of  the  Northern  papers  have  contained  very  kindly  notices.  We  have 
seen  no  attempt  to  refute  the  jjoints  made  ;  and  we  would  esteem  it  a  favor 
if  our  friends  would  forward  us  anything  of  the  kind  which  they  may  observe. 
We  have  letters  from  leading  Confederates  Avarmly  endorsing  our  array  of 
documents  and  facts,  and  have  reason  to  feel  that  in  defending  the  Confede- 
rate Government  from  the  charge  of  systematic  cruelty  to  prisoners,  we  have 
rendered  a  service  higldy  appreciated  by  our  Southern  people. 


Our  Subscription  List  is  steadily  increasing ;  but  we  can  find  room  for 
other  names,  and  beg  our  friends  to  help  us  sweir  the  number  of  our 
readers. 


Valuable  Contributions  to  our  archives  are  constantly  coming  in.  A 
patriotic  lady  of  this  city  (Mrs.  Catharine  P.  Graham)  has  recently  presented 
us  with  war  files  of  several  Richmond  papers.  She  refused  to  sell  them  for 
a  large  price,  and  insisted  on  giving  them  to  our  Society. 

John  McEae,  Esq.,  of  Camden,  S.  C,  has  placed  us  under  the  highest 
obligations  by  presenting  the  following  newspaper  files  : 

Charleston  Courier  from  May  1850  to  February  1865. 

Richmond  Dispatch  from  April  18G1  to  April  1864. 

Charleston  Mercnry  from  July  1859  to  February  1865  and  from  Novem- 
ber 1866  to  November  1868. 

Columbia  Daily  Carolinian  from  1855  to  October  1864. 

Charleston  Daily  News  and  '■'■  Netos  and  Courier''^  from  June  1866  to 
this  date. 

Camden  Journal  from  January  1856  to  this  date. 

Southern  Presbyterian  from  June  1S58  to  this  date. 

And  Dr.  J.  Dickson  Brims,  of  New  Orleans,  has  sent  us  a  bound  volume 
of  the  Charleston  Mercury  for  1862. 

We  have  received  recently  other  valuable  contributions,  which  we  have 
not  space  even  to  mention. 


Our  present  number  has  been  delayed  by  causes  over  which  we  have 
had  no  control ;  but  we  think  that  we  can  promise  that  hereafter  our  Papers 
will  appear  promptly  near  the  latter  part  of  each  month. 


Editorial  Paragraphs.  32^ 

A  Confederate  Roster  has  been  a  desideratum  exceedingly  difficult  to 
supply.  The  capture,  or  destruction,  of  so  large  a  part  of  our  records  has 
rendered  a  compilation  of  a  full  and  correct  Roster  a  work  of  almost  insuper- 
able difficulty.  We  are  happy  to  announce,  however,  that  Colonel  Charles 
C.  Jones,  Jr.,  of  New  York  (formerly  of  Savannali),  who  has  been  for  some 
ten  years  patiently  at  work  on  such  a  Roster,  has  brought  his  labors  to  a 
conclusion,  and  has  generously  placed  his  MSS.  at  the  disposal  of  the  Society. 
It  shows  the  marks  of  patient  and  laborious  investigation,  and  (so  far  as  we 
are  able  to  judge)  is  much  more  accurate  and  complete  than  could  have  been 
expected.  We  propose  to  begin  its  publication  in  our  next  number,  and  to 
have  it  stereotyped,  and  so  arranged  that  it  can  be  bound,  wlien  completed, 
hito  a  neat  volume,  which  will  be  a  most  valuable  addition  to  our  War 
History. 

We  desire  that  each  and  all  of  our  readers  should  keep  before  tliem  the 
fact  that  there  is  an  Association  incorporated  by  tlie  State  of  Virginia,  whose 
trust  it  is  to  obtain  funds  for  a  monument  to  be  erected  at  Riclimond  in 
memory  of  General  Robert  E.  Lee.  We  will  not  offend  good  taste  by  offer- 
ing a  word  in  commendation  of  this  eff'ort  to  do  honor  to  tlie  great  captain ; 
we  the  ratlier  assume  that  every  reader  of  tliese  Papers  will  gladly  and 
promptly  forward  a  liberal  contribution  to  the  Treasurer  at  Richmond.  The 
Association  is  administered  by  a  Board  of  Managers  composed  of  the  Gov- 
ernor of  Virginia,  the  Auditor  and  tlie  Treasurer.  Tlie  Hon.  R.  M.  T\ 
Hanter  is  tlie  treasurer,  and  Col.  S.  Bassett  Frencli  is  tlie  secretary  of  the 
Board.     Address,  Richmond,  Va. 


The  "Lee  Memorial  Association,"  with  headquarters  at  Lexington, 
Va.,  has  been  quietly  working  for  its  simple  object,  whicli  is  to  decorate  the 
tomb  of  Lee.  Ha-\^ng  secured  Valentine's  splendid  recumbent  figure  of  Lee — 
which  is,  beyond  all  question,  one  of  tlie  most  superb  works  of  art  on  tlie  con- 
tinent— they  are  now  raising  funds  with  wliich  to  build  the  Mausoleum  wliich 
is  to  contain  it.  Surely  the  admirers  of  our  great  chieftain  ought  to  supply 
at  once  the  means  necessary  for  this  noble  object.  Send  contributions  to  the- 
Treasurer,  C.  M.  Figgatt,  Lexington,  Virginia. 


Book  Notices. 

Cooke'' s  Life  of  General  R.  E.  Lee.     D.  Appleton  &  Co.,  New  York. 

This  book  was  published  in  1871,  and  has  been  so  long  before  the  public 
that  it  need  now  receive  no  extended  review  at  our  hands.  Colonel  Cooke 
wields  a  facile  pen,  and  his  books  are  always  entertaining.  There  are  errors 
in  tlie  strictly  Military  i^art  of  this  biography  which  a  more  rigid  study  of  the 
official  reports  would  have  avoided ;  but  the  account  given  of  General  Lee's 
private  character  and  domestic  life  is  exceedingly  pleasing  and  very  valuable. 
We  are  glad  to  note  that  an  (unintentional)  injustice  done  to  the  gallant 
General  Edward  Johnson,  in  the  account  of  the  battle  of  Spotsylvania  Court- 


330  Southern  Historical  Society  Papers. 

house,  which  appeared  ma  previous  edition,  has  been  corrected  inthe  edition 
before  us. 

A  Military  Biographjj  of  Stonewall  Jackson.  By  Colonel  John  Esten  Cooke. 
With  an  appendix  (containing  an  account  of  the  Inauojafation  of  Foley's 
statue),  b}'  Rev.  J.  Wm.  Jones.     D.  Appleton  &  Co.,  New  York. 

Cooke's  Life  of  Jackson  was  originally  pul)lished  during  the  war,  and  was 
rewritten,  and  republislted  ui  18G6.  The  enterprising  publishers  liave  brought 
out  a  new  edition  with  an  Appendix  added,  which  contains  a  full  account 
of  the  Inauguration  of  Foley's  statue,  including  the  eloquent  address  of 
Governor  Kemper,  and  the  noble  oration  of  Eev.  Dr.  Moses  D.  Hoge.  The 
book  is  gotten  up  in  the  highest  stjde  of  the  printer's  art,  tiie  engravings  add 
to  its  attractiveness,  and  we  hear  it  is  meeting  with  a  large  sale. 

It  is  to  be  regretted  that  the  publishers  did  not  give  Colonel  Cooke  the 
opportunity  of  revising  and  correcting  his  work,  for  while  the  book  is  very 
readable,  and  gives  some  exceedingly  vivid  pictures  of  old  Stonewall  on  his 
rawbone  sorrel,  there  are  important  errors  in  the  narrative  which  ought  by 
all  means  to  be  corrected. 

Personal  Reminiscences,  Anecdotes  and  Letters  of  General  R.  E.  Lee.  By 
Rev.  J.  Wm.  Jones,  D.  D.     D.  Appleton  &  Co.,  New  York. 

We  cannot,  of  course,  give  an  unbiased  judgment  of  this  book.  But  we 
may  say  this,  that  the  letters  of  General  Lee,  which  the  author  was  so  fortu- 
nate as  to  secure,  are  among  the  most  charming  specimens  of  letter-writing 
in  all  the  wide  range  of  Literature,  and  that  the  view  of  his  private,  domes- 
tic, and  Christian  character  thus. given  presents  him  to  the  world  as  one  of 
the  noblest  specimens  of  a  man  with  whom  God  ever  blessed  the  earth.  And 
so  large  a  part  of  the  book  is  made  up  of  these  private  letters,  and  of  the 
contributions  of  others,  that  even  loe  may  say,  witiiout  impropriety,  that  we 
would  be  glad  to  see  the  book  widely  circnlated — more  especially  as  a  part 
of  everj^  copy  sold  goes  into  the  treasury  of  tlie  ''Lee  Memorial  Association" 
at  Lexington. 

We  may  add  that  the  steel  engravings  of  General  Lee  and  Mrs.  Lee  in 
this  book  are  the  best  likenesses  of  them  we  have  ever  seen,  and  tliat  the 
publishers  have  gotten  up  the  volume  in  superb  style. 

General  Joseph  E.  Johnston's  Narrative.     D.  Appleton  &  Co.,  New  York. 

General  Johnston  wields  one  of  the  most  gracef  nl,  trenchant  pens  of  any 
man  who  lignred  in  the  late  war,  and  whatever  dift'erence  of  opinion  may 
honestly  exist  concerning  controverted  points  upon  which  he  touches,  all 
■will  desire  to  read  tliis  really  able  narrative,  and  to  place  it  among  the  com- 
paratively few  books  which  one  cares  to  preserve  for  future  reference  and 
study.  As  it  has  been  intimated  tliat  General  Johnston  is  now  preparing  a 
revised  and  enlarged  edition,  in  wliich  he  replies  to  criticisms  wliich  have 
been  made  upon  his  Narrative,  we  shall  look  forward  with  interest  to  its 
appearance. 

Other  Book  Notices  are  crowded  out,  and  will  be  given  her>'after. 


Advertisements. 


Ill S  TOR  ir 

OF  THE 

AE II  AiiimieA. 

BY 

THE  COMTE  de  PARIS. 

Translated,  with  the  approval  of  the  author,  by  Louis  F.  Tasistro. 
Edited  by  Henry  Cooper,  LL.  D.  Each  volume  embracing,  with- 
out abridgment,  two  volumes  of  the  French  edition.  With  Maps 
faithfully  engraved  from  the  originals,  and  printed  in  three  colors. 
8vo,  per  volume,  cloth,  %2>  50;  sheep,  Hbrary  style,  ^-4  50;  half 
morocco,  $6  00. 

Vols.  I.  and  II.  now  ready.    To  te  completed  in  Four  Volumes. 

"The  fact  that  I  have  been  engaged  for  several  years  ingatherhig  material 
and  making  otlier  preparation  for  the  writing  of  a  history  of  onr  civil  war 
has  led  me  to  read  tlie  Comte  de  Paris'  work  with  greater  care  and  much 
more  criti<^- ally  than  I  should  otlierwise  have  done,  and  I  regard  it  as  the  only 
■one  yet  written  which  is,  in  a  proper  seiise,  a  historj^  of  tlie  Civil  War  in 
America.  It  is  a  thorouglily  good  histoiy  of  the  war,  verj^  much  better,  in- 
deed, than  I  had  thought  it  possible  for  any  one  to  write  at  present. 

"Tlie  Comte  de  Pai-is  had  two  especial  dangers  to  encounter  in  his  effort 
to  write  impartially  of  our  war.  His  personal  impressions  of  the  quarrel  and 
-of  tlie  men  who  were  engaged  in  it  were  received  while  he  was  an  officer  upon 
one  side,  activelj^  engaged  in  military  service,  and  there  was  every  reason  to 
apprehend  prejudice  upon  his  part  against  the  people  whom  he  was  bound  to 
regard  as  enemies.  He  was  &  member  of  the  statt"  of  a  general  officer,  who  was 
afterward  a  candidate  for  political  preferment,  and  it  would  have  been  natural 
enough  for  him  to  espouse  the  personal  cause  of  this  chief  in  all  matters  per- 
taining to  liis  campaigns.  Both  of  these  dangers  the  Comte  de  Paris  seems 
to  me  to  have  escaped,  and  his  perfect  fairness  is  not  less  remarkable  than 
his  singular  accuracy  of  perception  in  matters  of  character  and  motive.  His 
candor  and  impartiality  must  add  largely  to  the  acceptability  of  his  work,  both 
at  the  North  and  at  the  South,  and  it  is  these  qualifications,  more  than  any 
others,  which  distinguish  his  history  from  the  many  treatises  we  have  from 
American  writers  on  the  subject." — Geo.  Gary  Eggleston.,  lute  of  Gen.  J.  E. 
B.  StuarVs  Cavalry^  Confederate  Army.,  author  of  ^'A  ReheVs  Recollections.,'''' 
etc. 

"It  is  so  superior  to  all  those  preceding  it  that  tliere  is  not  one  in  America 
or  Europe  worthy  to  be  placed  in  the  same  class." — Saturday  Review.,  London, 
England. 

"We  advise  all  Americans  to  read  it  carefully,  and  judge  for  themselves  if 
'the  future  historian  of  our  war,'  of  whom  we  have  heard  so  much,  be  not 
already  arrived  in  the  Comte  de  Paris.  The  translation  is  very  good." — The 
Nation.,  New  York. 

J.  H.  COATES  &  CO.,  Publishers,^ 

Philadelphia. 

^*^  For  sale  by  all  Booksellers  or  sent  by  mail  on  receipt  of  price. 


ii  Advertisements. 


jrtysT  JSS17S20 


of  General  Boms  J. 

("STONEWALL  JACKSON.") 
By  SARAH  NICHOLAS  RANDOLPH, 

Author  of  "The  Domestic  Life  of  Thomas  Jefferson,"  etc. 

Handsomely  Illustrated  with  Portrait  from  Steel,  and  Eight  full- 
page  Wood-cut  Engravings. 

One  Volume.    Crown  8vo.     Bound  in  Fine  Cloth,  Beveled  Boards,  $2  00. 

"The  author  is  a  conscientious,  pure  writer,  who  is  influenced  by  no  ambition  beyond 
simple  truth  and  justice.  The  pages  before  us  are  a  contribution  to  our  literature,  for  which 
all  Virginians  should  be  grateful,  and  which  should  be  in  the  library  of  every  Southern 
household." — Richmond  Enqiiirer. 

"It  is  the  record  of  a  career  in  the  highest  degree  interesting.  The  simple  narrative  of 
his  life  has  all  the  charm  of  Romance." — BaUiinore  Gazette. 

For  sale  by  all  Booksellers,  or  will  be  sent  by  mail,  postpaid,  on  receipt  of 
the  price  by  the  Publisliers. 

J.  B.  LIPPINCOTT  &  CO.,  Philadelphia. 


J.  AMB^LEH  SMITH. 
ATTORNEY  AT  LAW, 

TENTH  AND  BANK  STREETS, 

RICHMOND,  YA. 
RICHMOND,  VA. 

AVe  have  standard  picturi  s  of  Generals  Lee  and  "Stonewall"  Jackson, 
which  are  pronounced  by  their  families  the  best  likenesses  extant.  Also  a 
large  collection  of  Photographs  of  other  distinguished  Confederates. 


Advertisements. 


BOTETOURT  SPRINGS,  VA. 

Immediately  on  the  Valley  Railroad,  and  eight  miles  from  the 
iown  of  Salem,  on  the  A.  M.  &  O.  R.  R.,  is  a  large  and  well- 
equipped  establishment  for  the  educational  training  of  young  ladies. 
The  accommodations  consist  of  three  spacious  edifices  of  brick, 
with  tin  and  slate  roofing,  affording  about  one  hundred  and  twenty 
rooms,  arranged  with  special  reference  to  health,  comfort  and 
efficient  school  exercises.  The  extensive  grounds  around  these 
buildings  have  been  beautifully  improved  witli  walkways,  shade 
i:rees,  flowers,  shrubbery,  &c.,  while  ihe  locality  enjoys  the  further 
advantages  of  fine  mountain  scenery,  mineral  waters  and  a  delight- 
ful, salubrious  climate  throughout  the  seasons. 

The  Board  of  Instruction  and  Government  is  composed  of  four 
gentlemen — University  graduates — and  ten  ladies  of  high  social 
position  and  varied  culture,  together  with  several  other  officers  in 
the  domestic  and  business  departments.  The  courses  of  instruction 
embrace  both  Ancient  and  Modern  Languages,  general  Literature 
and  the  various  Sciences,  In  the  department  of  Music  fine  facilities 
are  afforded  for  both  Instrumental  and  Vocal  pupils. 

The  School  is  at  present  patronized  by  prominent  families  in 
many  States. 

Pupils  will  be  received  for  a  single  session  or  for  the  entire  pe- 
riod of  their  school  life,  the  Institute  assuming  full  responsibility 
for  the  morals,  manners,  health  and  general  development  of  correct 
character  of  those  committed  to  its  charge  for  a  term  of  years. 
Sectarian  books  and  teachings  are  positively  excluded — the  Bible 
alone  is  the  text-book  in  religion. 

For  board  and  tuition  the  charge  is  $240  per  session  of  nine 
months.  This  charge  includes  the  usual  extras  of  fuel,  light,  ivash- 
ing,' medical  fee  and  hack  hire.  No  other  charge  is  made  except  for 
Music  and  Painting.  Pupils  furnish  napkins,  towels  and  text- 
books— all  of  which  can  be  purchased  for  cash  at  the  place.  Store 
accounts  and  all  outside  expenses  are  positively  forbidden.  The 
charge  for  board  in  vacation  is  $20  per  month ;  parents  visiting 
their  daughters  pay  the  same.  • 

P.  O.,  Botetourt  Springs,  Va.;  Depot,  Salem,  A.  M.  &  O.  R.  R. 

Apply  to 

CHAS.  S.  COCKE, 

General  Superintendent. 


iv  Advertisements. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  YIRGINIA. 

The  session  lieglus  on  the  FIRST  OF  OCTOBER,  and  continues  till  the  Thursday  before 
the  4th  day  of  July  ensuing. 

The  Institution  Is  organized  in  separate  Schools  on  the  Eclectic  system,  emt)raclng  FULL 
COURSES  OF  INSTRUCTION  in  Literature  and  Science,  and  in  the  professions  of  Law, 
Medicine,  Engineering  and  Agriculture. 

THE  EXPENSES  of  the  student  (except  such  as  enter  the  practical  laboratories),  ex- 
clusive of  the  cost  of  text-books,  clothing  and  pocket  money,  are  from  $356  to  $::91,  accord- 
ing to  Schools  selected  ;  or  for  those  who  economize  by  messing,  these  expenses  are  from 
$266  to  $800.  No  charge  for  tuition  to  candidates  for  the  ministry  unable  to  meet  the  ex- 
pense. 

Apply  for  catalogues  to  Wm.  Wektenbakeb,  Secretary,  P.  O.  University  of  Virginia, 
Albemarle  county,  Va. 

JAS.  F.  HARRISON,  M.  D.,  Chairman  of  the  Faculty. 

HIOHMOND  OOl^lLEeE, 

BICHMONn,  VA. 

Tlie  next  session  will  b'ijin  September  23(1,  and  continue  without  inter- 
mission for  nine  moaths.  Tlie  Colleoje  comprises  the  followino;  independent 
schools,  eaeli  under  the  control  of  its  own  Professor,  to  wit :  La"  in,  Greek, 
Modern  Lansuitg^^,  English,  Mathematics,  Physics,  Chemistry,  Philosophj'. 

EXPENSES— Entrance  fees $20  00 

Tuition  in  three  schools  (the  usual  number) TO  oo 

Board  in  messing  clul)s,  about 90  00 

Fuel  $10,  lights  and  washing  $18 ; 28  00 

Total  expenses  for  entire  session f208  00 

Or  by  boarding  instead  of  messing 235  00 

For  catalogues,  address  B.  PUKYEAR,  Chairman  Faculty. 

EPISCOPAL  HIGH  SCHOOL  OF  VIRGINIA 

Fairfax  County,  three  miles  west  of  Alexandria. 

FOUNDED  IN  1839. 
LAUNCELOT  M.  BLACKFORD,  M.  A.  [Univ.  Va.],  Princijml. 

A  Classical  School  for  Boys,  under  the  auspices  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
Church. 

The  next  session  opens  SEPTEMBER  27th,  187(1. 

Catalogue,  with  full  i^articulars,  sent  on  application  to  the  Pi-incii)al, 
Alexandria,  Va. 

RICEARDSOjY  Sf  CO , 

Brokers,  Real  Estate  Agents  and  Auctioneers, 

J.  A.  RICHARDSON.  1113  Main  St.,  Richmond,  Ya. 

.  Real  Estate,  Bonds,  Stocks,  Mortgages  and  Commercial  Paper  bought  and 
sold  on  commission  ;  Property  leased  or  rented,  and  Rents  collected  ;  loans 
negotiated  on  Real  Estate  or  Collateral  Security.  Utmost  care  and  prudence 
exercised  in  the  investment  of  money,  secured  by  bonds  or  deeds  of  trust  on 
real  estate,  free  of  charge  to  lender. 


Advertisements. 


OTJK/ 


COMPLETE  SHIRT. 

We  sell  a  Shirt  of  our  owu  manufacture,  made  of  WAMSUTTA 
COTTON  and  GENUINE  IRISH  LINEN. 

These  Shirts  are  completely  made,  in  the  various  styles  now  worn. 
We  guarantee  that  they  are  manufactured  from  material  as  above 
described.  They  only  require  to  be  laundried  before  being  worn, 
and  when  done  up,  are  equal  to  any  $3  00  Shirt  yet  offered. 
Pronounced  by  all  who  have  seen  them 


m 


'MWM  SHiEf  mwm 


We  will  send  a  sample  Shirt,  postage  free,  on  the  receipt  of 
$1  25.  In  ordering,  the  only  measure  required  will  be  size  around 
neck,  number  of  collar  worn  and  length  of  sleeve. 

A  large  stock  of 

At  prices  to  suit  the  times. 

LEVY  BROTHERS, 

1017  and  1019  Main  Street,  Richmond,  Va. 


VI 


Advertisements. 


Ceo!eonial  Memorial'  Medals 


50  cent< ; 


ill  fancy  box. 


Struck  in  solid  Albata  Plate,  equal  in  ap- 
pearance, wear  and  color  to  Solid  Silver  or 
Gold,  presenting  a  variety  of  beautiful  de- 
signs in  relief.  These  Medals  are  larger 
than  a  silver  trade  dollar,  being  If  inch  in 
diameter,  handsomely  put  up  and  sell  rea- 
dily at  sight.  The  most  valuable  souvenirs 
and  mementos  ever  issued.  Good  agents 
wanted  in  every  city  and  town  in  the 
United  States  and  Canada,  to  whom  ex- 
clusive territory  will  be  given,  if  desired. 

Eetail  Pkices. — For  the  Albata  Silver, 
Usual  discount  to  the  trade. 
A  complete  outfit  of  magnificent  samples  for  agents,  in  satin  or  velvet- 
lined  morocco  case,  containing  six  Medals,  difterent  designs,  one  gilt,  suitable 
for  jewelers'  show-windows,  etc.,  sent  on  receipt  of  draft  or  postolfice  order 
for  $4,  or  will  ship  express  C.  O.  D. 

Descriptive  Circular,  Price  List  and  one  sample  sent  upon  receipt  of  50 
cents.  Immense  profits.  Sells  at  sight.  Correspondence  solicited.  In- 
formation free.   Extensive  fields  for  enterprise.   Address  all  communications 

U.  S.  MEDALLION  CO., 
P.  O.  Box  5270.  212  Broadivay,  New  York. 

For  sale  ly  RICHMOND  NOVELTY  CO,  20  Niutli  St,  Eictaonl,  Va. 

CAPITOL  HOTEL 

TWELFTH  AND  FRANKLIN  STREETS, 


RICHMOND,  VA. 


Capt.  W.  P    DAVIS, 
C.  W,  HENDERSON, 


Proi>rietor. 
Clerk  aud  Manai^er. 


Tliis  beautiful  Hotel  is  now  open  to  tlie  public,  having  recently  been  greatly 
improved  and  elegantly  fm-nished  with  new  furniture  and  everything  neces- 
sary to  make  it  attractive  and  comfortable. 

Tliis  Iiouse  is  located  at  a  point  accessible  to  business,  depots,  postofflce, 
banlvs,  &c.  ^ 

It  opens  upon  the  Capitol  S(|uare,  besides  having  at  its  entrance,  on  Frank- 
lin street,  a  Fountain  of  excellent  water. 


BOAKD,  $2  PER  DAT. 


MEALS,  50  CENTS. 


SPECIAJu  RATES  MADE  WITH  GUESTS. 


A  Bar  stocked  with  choicest  Liquors,  Wines  and  Cigars. 
Livery  Stable  attached  to  the  ifouse. 


Ru  104 


O  *  ,  ,  1  •        ,0  'To, 

■7-  .-.■^  _    .  -^^ 


.<^^ 


-<si<i~' 


o   «  o  ■'        ^^ 


DOBBS  BROS.  c.  a^ 

LIBRARY  BINDINO  .  t,  ^  T 


ST.  AUGUSTINE 

4?  ^^